A Frozen Heart's Melting
by gothraven89
Summary: Barry, Prince of Central Kingdom agrees to marry Leonard Snart, King of Nevar, also known as the Winter Kingdom, who so happens to be a widower, having lost his first husband Mick Rory not too long ago. This won't stop Barry from trying to melt the icy walls that stand between him and Leonard's heart. WARNING: Slash. Reviews are LOVE and Suggestions are welcome!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don not own The Flash character or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Based off of a prompt seen on ColdFlashTrash on Tumblr.

 **A Frozen Heart's Melting**

Chapter 1

The sound of a clock's soft chime filled the air as the early morning rays of the sun gently illuminated the room through large arched windows.

Hazel green eyes fluttered open at the sound of the bell chiming, blinking away the last tendrils of sleep as awareness of the world retuned. With a small groan the owner of these eyes pushed away the covers of his bed and sat up. As his eyes looked about the room the young man let out a small sigh, his expression growing pensive.

This was not his room, this was not his bed that he had slept in the night before. Though luxurious and tasteful, all of this was merely one of the many many guest quarters within the castle. Taking in a deep breath, the young man pulled back the covers fully and rose from the incredibly soft four poster bed and stretched his long limbs. The chiming from earlier had ceased now, as it always did in the week since he had arrived here.

The young man padded across the room towards the large arched windows and reached for the latch to open one of the smaller panes. The pane fell away to reveal the vibrant yet snow covered world outside. Down below was the sprawling front courtyard of the castle that led to the great wall that enclosed the palace ground. Beyond it lay the city with all of its people going about their morning in excitement. They had much reason to be excited, but the young man now observing them from his window found that he could not quite join them in their excitement.

Today was the day that this foreign land would officially become his, the day that all those people down below in the city would become his subjects.

Today was the day that he, Prince Bartholomew "Barry" Henry Allen of Central Kingdom would join in the bonds of marriage with the king of this land, the kingdom known as Nevar. A king by the name of Leonard Snart.

Nevar was known as the Winter Kingdom because of it was cold most of the year, with only a few hot summer months before it was back to snowy days. If there was one thing Barry could say about Leonard Snart, the man he was to marry today, it was that while he kingdom was cold, he was colder by far.

As he gazed out at the light snow that had begun to fall outside his window, Barry took a moment to reflect on how everything that would be happening today came about.

Barry who had lost both of his parents at a young age was lovingly raised by his father's successor, King Joseph West. They may not have been related by blood, but Joseph and Barry's father Henry were brothers in every sense of the word. It was why it had not been very much of a shock when Henry, who had no other family had named Joe as his successor to the throne of Central Kingdom. Central Kingdom had prospered greatly under Joe's rule, and along with it Barry, who grew up deeply loved beside Joe's daughter Iris. The pair were the best of friends besides being siblings.

Three months ago, Joe had been conducting his usual morning meeting with his royal advisor when his chief advisor, Lord Martin Stein had come forward announcing that a missive had just arrived from the Kingdom of Nevar.

Nevar and the Central kingdom had always been neighbors for as long as anyone could remember, yet Nevar had always kept to itself and remained a mysterious place. Hardly anyone knew anything about the deeply private kingdom, even more so about the dynasty that ruled it. Sure there were a few traders who would occasionally come to Central Kingdom with Nervarian wares that were exquisitely made and highly sought after but it was like the traders had all taken a vow of silence and never divulged anything when asked about their monarchs.

It could have been because Nevar caused such fear in her own people, or it could have been because it inspired such great loyalty, no one knew for sure.

But back to the main recollection, the missive had arrived from Nevar and Joe had asked Lord Stein to read it. When he did, to say that everyone was stunned would have been the biggest understatement.

The message from Nevar had been not just any message, it had been a proposal. A proposal to join Nevar and Central kingdom together in an alliance that was stronger than friendship.

Marriage, specifically Barry's marriage to the king of Nevar, his majesty King Leonard Snart.

Things had quickly erupted into chaos with those in favor of the union and those against it jockeying for position to get their opinion across to King Joseph. Joe himself had regained order by loudly declaring that there was no need to make a decision as of that very moment, and that the decision was not his, but Barry's.

Later on that day, Joe had informed Barry and Iris of the situation. Barry had laughed it off as some kind of joke while Iris, being the inquisitive mind that she was had proceeded to ask question after question, like why all of a sudden Nevar was reaching out? What kind of man was this Leonard Snart? What would happen if Barry said no, would Nevar declare war on Central Kingdom for such insult?

To this Joe had calmly explained to both his children that the proposal was exactly what it was, a proposal of alliance with no threat attached to it should a rejection occur. It had simply stated that Central Kingdom send its reply by the end of the month. Barry had been all for sending his rejection as soon as possible but Joe had simply said that it would be best to keep the matter open until the end of the month because there was always the chance that Barry could change his mind and agree to the union or this Leonard Snart could change his mind and rescind his proposal.

Barry had simply rolled his eyes and declared that there was no way in hell he's change his mind and agree to marry some complete and total stranger. They had not even sent a portrait of this Leonard Snart along with the missive so for all Barry had known, the man could have been some hideous buck-toothed hunchback. On top of that, when he had found out that this Leonard Start was forty-three years of age, Barry had been cheeky as he commented that the man must be well and truly desperate for a spouse if he was sending out proposals to complete strangers.

After that Barry had simply gone about his life, training in various weapons and learning the healing arts as were his chosen field despite being prince.

About two weeks later though, that was when everything had changed. That was when Iris got inexplicably and dangerous sick. One moment she was fine, enjoying lunch with her husband Edward Thawne, the next she was collapsing as a dangerously high fever took hold of her. Nothing the best healers in Central Kingdom did worked, not even Barry's attempts. For three whole days and nights Iris suffered before a desperate and terrified Joe ordered that messengers be dispatched to all of the neighboring kingdoms, pleading for them to send the best healers they had, or the best remedy that was known to them, and that he would pay any price.

Barry had been beside himself, never leaving Iris's side, hardly sleeping or eating save for what a select few around him, such as Cisco his best friend and page, or Lord Martin Stein, or even Joe himself could coax him into eating.

Edward "Eddie" Thawne was no better. His handsome face had grown haggard with worry for his beloved wife, and while Barry let himself fall into disarray, he tried his best to make sure that Eddie did not collapse. Both men stayed ever constantly at Iris's side as she continued her battle to fined the sickness that had gripped her.

Healers and remedies did answer Joe's desperate call, but for all of their efforts, none succeeded in freeing Iris from the deadly grip of the fever. It was on the seventh day, when all hope seemed lost, that a lone rider atop a giant dapple gray stallion all but charged through the gate onto the castle grounds. Dressed in steely blue colored armor and with a long bellowing dark blue cape attached at his shoulders that had a white emblem in the shape of an ornately designed snowflake.

Without much preamble the rider had dismounted his steed and spared enough time to identify himself as one General Mark Mardon, the commander of the armies of Nevar before he had demanded to speak with Joe immediately.

When Joe had rushed up to greet the new arrival, Mardon had bowed to Joe and then relayed that he had been personally sent by King Leonard Snart to render aid. Mardon had then reached into one of the inner pockets of his armor and pulled out a tiny glass box which contained a fine, pale indigo colored powder and presented it to Joe, telling him that this was the remedy that King Snart had dispatched him to bring in answer to Joe's desperate plea.

After that was a mad dash to the get remedy prepared for Iris. As per Mardon's instructions, Barry had taken the powder and carefully mixed it with some warm milk and than fed it to a barely alive Iris. The hours that had followed were by far the longest hours for all of Central Kingdom. While Barry, Joe, and Eddie did not sleep for that whole night, they were a bit surprised when instead of one of the usual servants coming in with a much needed meal, it was Mark Mardon who entered Iris's room with the tray, quietly asking them to at least eat.

Everyone had drifted off in the early morning hours though, unable to stave off sleep, but Barry was the one who was jolted awake when the hand that he had been holding all night squeezed his tightly, almost to the point of pain with renewed strength. When the sleep had cleared from his eyes he found himself staring into the exhausted but smiling face of his beloved sister.

Barry's yells of happy relief may as well have woken the entire kingdom as he all but jumped onto the bed and hugged Iris, who's fever had finally broken thanks to the remedy from Nevar. Joe and Eddie had been beside themselves as they too rushed to Iris's side, while Mardon had stood off to the side with a relieved little smile over his stubble covered cheeks.

A tearful Joe had then sought out Mardon, pulling the Nevarian General into a crushing embrace and thanking him tearfully. Eddie and Barry had been no better, hugging the man and thanking him for helping them in their time of need.

Mardon's reply to all of this was to simply shake his head and tell them the the real person they should have been thanking was the king he served, his majesty Leonard Snart.

Barry had felt the full weight of this truth jolt through his heart, and it made him feel terribly ashamed that he had ever though ill of the King of Nevar. That feeling had only increased when Joe had asked Mardon how he could ever repay Leonard Snart for saving his daughter's life.

To this they had watched as Mardon grew incredibly sad as he shook his head, he told them that his king wanted no payment for the service provided, not one jewel or one coin. Mardon told them that all Leonard Snart wanted was to see that Iris lived.

When Joe asked why, Mardon had simply told them that king Leonard knew full well what it was like to have someone he loved with his whole heart be fine one moment, then burning with fever the next, and then passing from this earth like a flame being snuffed out. Mardon revealed that up until five years ago King Leonard had been happily married to a man named Mick Rory, a Prince from a land across the sea known for their love of harnessing the power of fire. One day Mick had fallen dangerously ill and despite every effort that was made, Mick had succumbed to the illness before Leonard could even send out a call for aid to the neighboring kingdoms like Joe had done for Iris. After he had cremated Mick in accordance with the customs of Mick's people, King Leonard had vowed to find a cure for the fever and also made sure that everyone in Nevar was inoculated against this disease and many others.

Mardon finished his explanation by simply stating that one the message from Joe asking for aid had made its way Nevar, his King had dispatched him with the remedy for Iris because Leonard would spare anyone, dearest friend or most bitter foe the pain that he himself went through when he lost his husband.

Joe, Barry, and Eddie had all been struck dumb by this revelation. It was at that moment that Barry also came to a decision regarding his own future and whether King Leonard Snart would be a part of it.

When Mardon took his leave of Central Kingdom to return to Nevar, he did not leave empty handed. He left with Barry's reply to the proposal that had been sent some weeks before from Nevar.

Yes, he would marry King Leonard Snart.

Though it had stunned his family and they asked him whether it was out of some sense that he owed Snart for saving Iris's life, Barry assured them that it was not out of some sense of fleeting gratitude, in honesty, while he was forever grateful for what this unknown king had done for his sister, and he empathized with the loss this man suffered, Barry was deeply, deeply intrigued by the mystery of Nevar and its enigmatic ruler. But despite the mystery of it all, Barry did know one thing for sure, if this king could send his general across hundreds of miles to deliver life-saving medicine for the princess of a kingdom that his kingdom had next to no relationship with, it said something very clear about the heart of the man himself.

After that came weeks of preparing for the journey to Nevar. Iris was back to full health who had taken complete control over her brother's impending nuptials, not that Barry minded, all he cared about was that she was alive to boss him around and order about the tailors and jewelers who were tasked with creating a new, more formal wardrobe for the prince. Joe was about as happy as any father would be with his child getting married. There was a lament that Barry's mother and father by blood were not alive to join in the celebrations.

And so Barry had packed up his life in Central Kingdom, and along with his family had set off to Nevar to face the future he had chosen for himself. The royal procession had been grand but alert under the watchful eye of Captain Singh, head of Joe's king's guard.

The change of scenery was slightly jarring, as the bright spring green of Central Kingdom slowly turned into the deep shade of evergreens and white snow of Nevarian lands.

When the royal procession had reached the city, Barry had been just about glued to the glass window, Iris, Eddie, and Cisco right there with him as they had taken their first real look at Nevar. Joe had chuckled at the open wonder on their faces, but he too had been quietly impressed by the city of Nevar.

The city itself was impressive, buildings of rich blues and grays, ranging from simply square buildings for shops and stores to ornate structures that seemed accented with ice itself. It was when they had caught sight of the Nevarian palace that Barry felt the breath leave his body for it was an exquisite sight. The palace stood tall and imposing, made of dark gray and black stone. The battlements seemed to be made of crystal that glinted in the sun, great banners of deep blues and purple baring the same snowflake emblem gracefully floating against the wind. It was located atop a frosty hill and surrounded by every greens. Behind it stood a formidable mountain range of black and gray peaks covered in pure white snow. (Think of a larger darker version of neuschwanstein castle in Germany.)

The place was truly magnificent.

When the royal procession had finally reached the grand and slightly ominous looking gates of the palace, Barry had looked down when a hand had covered his own and squeeze. He turned to see Iris giving him a warm smile, but there was sadness in her eyes. Barry had done his best not to lose his composure right then and there and instead had offered Iris his best grin and squeezed her hand back.

Then the royal carriage was coming to a stop in front of the large and ornate doors of the palace. They seemed to stretch all the way to the heavens, made from wood and polished so greatly they looked black. They had intricate carvings inlaid with silver, and more of that ice-like material. They were just as stunning as the rest of the place.

The footman had opened the door and Joe was the first to climb out. Iris and Eddie went next, followed by Cisco. Then finally Barry had climbed out. There was a definite bite of cold to the air, and Barry was forever glad he had opted to wear one of his favorite maroon colored jackets with fur lining along with the leather trousers and knee length boots he had on. Draped from his shoulders was a simple chain of linked gold disks that met at the center where hung the emblem of Central Kingdom, a golden sunburst with a lightening bolt going through it. It was the mark of his station, and yet not too ornate.

The royals of Central Kingdom stood on the large blue carpet that lay over the middle of the large marble steps that led up to the great doors and had waited. A few moments later there was a loud, resounding gong and the sound of mechanical gears shifting and turning. They had all waited with bated breath as the great doors and slowly opened and swung inward with a low groan. They fell away to reveal Mark Mardon, dressed in ornate ceremonial armor of a pale bluish-silver leading a procession of similarly dressed guards carrying wicked yet elegant looking ceremonial spears. With military precision once Mardon had cross the threshold of the great doors, these soldiers who had been walking two perfectly straight line broke off and seamlessly flanked either side of the blue carpet, tapping the ends of their spears against the floor in a resounding thud they all stood to silent attention.

It was impressive. It was slightly intimidating. Barry had done his best not to fidget as Mardon had warmly greeted them and led them into the castle. The interior of the castle was just as grand and impressive as the outside. With spiraling pillars that were huge and the seemed to stretch forever up to the arched ceiling that was beautifully painted, the place was breath taking.

Mardon had led them to the foot of a truly grand marble staircase. At the end of each sweeping marble bannister stood a magnificently carved white marble lion sitting tall in quiet elegance.

Another loud gong had sounded and all eyes had turned to the top of the stairs where two figures had appeared. Barry had felt the breath leave his lungs yet again as he had stood transfixed and beheld the man and the woman who had descended down the stairs hand in hand.

There was no denying that the man was his majesty King Leonard Snart.

He had was tall and proud with pricing steely blue eyes. With his hair buzzed close to his head and lightly smattered with a few grays and his features chiseled and sharp, he cut a striking figure as he descended the grand staircase with the lady beside him. Dressed in a deep royal blue jacket with silver embellishments. Over this jacket he wore a long floorlength sleeveless coat that was lined with light brown fur. Draped from his shoulders was an ornate chain of silver disks with a beautiful blue sapphire in the middle of each surrounded by pearls and diamonds in a star-like pattern. At the very center of the chain hung the Nevarian snowflake emblem made of intricate interwoven silver and accented with more sapphires at each end, and a large perfectly round diamond at its center.

Beside the handsome king walked a strikingly beautiful woman dressed in a flowing deep purple gown with a belt identical to the king's chain around her waist. Atop her head was a simple, elegant circlet of braided silver and pearls. Her rich chocolate brown hair fell about her shoulders in soft waves and her eyes were a softer blue-gray compared to the kings, but no less striking.

The pair had reached the end of the stairs and in perfect sync the King had bowed and the lady had curtsied gracefully. Joe, Barry, Eddie, Iris, and Cisco returned the gestures. Introductions were made and indeed, the man was King Leonard Snart. The woman turned out to be his younger sister, Lisa Snart, Princess of Nevar. Cisco had openly gawked at Princess Lisa until Eddie had discreetly elbowed him to make his snap out of it. Barry's best friend had stuttered out a greatly and grinned widely at the gorgeous woman, who had surprisingly smiled back at him just as warmly. When she and Iris were introduce there was an instant spark of mischief between them, as only younger sisters could understand. When she had finally met Barry, she had smiled widely at him and given him a kiss on the cheek. But where Lisa was cordial, Leonard had been stoic and reserved as he had greeted first Joe, then Iris and Eddie, and Cisco before he had finally come to stand before Barry.

While his face had been pleasant enough, all Barry could see in Leonard's blue-gray eyes was ice. Leonard's tone as he had spoken his gratitudes for Barry accepting his proposal had been strictly formal, and a little awkward. When they had shaken hands, Leonard had been quick to let go, like he could not bare Barry's touch. But Leonard had not been quick enough for Barry to not notice the silver ring that had still adorned the ring finger of Leonard's left hand.

That had been a week ago and in all that time Barry had rarely crossed paths with his future husband. Whenever he had asked where Leonard was, there was always some excuse about some important matter of state that had suddenly come up. On the rare occasion that Barry and Leonard did happen to cross paths, it was always an awkward encounter with Barry not knowing what to say and Leonard being completely closed off.

Barry quickly shook himself out of his musings of the past and went about his morning routine. He brushed his teeth and shaved before he got dressed. He put on a pair of simple leather trouser and donned a white tunic over which he pulled on a light green over jacket with a high collar. Just as he was giving himself a final once over there was a knock at the door.

" Come in." Barry called as he ran his fingers through his spiky brown hair one last time. He turned to face the door and found himself smiling as Cisco walked in.

" Morning Barry, your dad sent me to get you for breakfast, everyone else is waiting."

Barry nodded and headed out of the guest room with Cisco following behind him. Friends since childhood, Cisco was the son of one of the lords of the hierarchy Joe ruled over as head. The young man had quickly grown to be one of Barry's most trusted friends and confidants. It was comforting beyond words that in addition to Barry taking Nevar as home, Cisco would be doing so as well, since his duties as Barry's Page called for such.

As the pair headed down one of the magnificent hallways of the castle Barry took note of the way that there was a bounce in Cisco's step that had Barry immediately suspect. With a small, knowing smirk Barry spoke.

" Lemme guess, Princess Lisa is joining us?"

At the way Cisco's entire face turned bright red and he ducked his head to hide his grin, Barry couldn't help but grin himself at how hard Cisco was crushing on Princess Lisa, and the most amazing thing was that she would always take the chance to flirt right back at him.

Barry felt his grin dim as he thought about his own situation with the other Snart sibling.

" Lemme also guess that his majesty King Leonard will not be joining us?" He asked knowingly.

To this he watched as Cisco sent him a slightly sad look before the younger man shook his head.

" C'mon Barry it's your wedding day, you guys aren't supposed to see each other before the ceremony anyway. "

" Yeah well, he hasn't really gone out of his way to have any kind of contact with me Cisco. I get the feeling that won't change once we tie the knot."

Cisco really didn't had a response to that, so instead the pair made the rest of the way to the small private dining room where they had all had breakfast together for the last week in a comfortable silence.

Once they reached the room, Joe was the first to greet Barry, pulling his son into a hug and wishing him a good morning. The moment Joe let go Iris had taken over with the squeezing. Next came Eddie who gave Barry a firm but not to tight hug. Then Lisa came forward, with her handmaiden Caitlyn Snow smiling behind her.

" Morning new brother." Lisa said with a smile before she gave Barry a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

" Morning new sister." Barry replied with a grin as he hugged Lisa back.

Where Leonard had made himself as scarce as possible, Lisa had taken every chance she could to spend time with them, especially Barry and Iris. She would regale them with stories of the happenings of Nevar, history of past kings and queens, though she never mention her and Leonard's parents for some reason. She had also gone out of her way in private to assure Barry that with time Leonard would come around.

After the greeting they all took seats at the round mahogany table that was already laden with a sumptuous looking spread of breakfast items both familiar to Central Kingdom, and newly discovered Nevarian delicacies.

Breakfast went by quickly but enjoyably, with Lisa and Eddie causing peals of laughter with their easy banter. But all too soon the large grandfather clock by the far wall chimed, signaling that it was ten o'clock.

The ceremony was set for noon sharp. With a final goodbye to Lisa and Iris, Barry took his leave with Joe, Eddie, and Cisco. Doing his best to remain calm, Barry headed towards the grand bathing chambers as he had been instructed to do in the days prior. Joe, Eddie, and Cisco would be getting ready there as well, and would also help Barry get ready as per Central custom for any man that was getting married.

As he walked Barry couldn't help but feel a dull twinge in his heart because here he was heading off to get married. But the problem was that while his soon-to-be husband was handsome and proved that he possessed a good heart when he saved Iris, when it came to Barry himself, Leonard was still so distant, so cold.

Talking another deep breath Barry continued to walk through the lavish and grand halls of the Nevarian palace, for today he, Bartholomew Henry Allen, Prince of Central Kingdom was getting ready to marry the man of his choice, a man nearly twenty years his senior, still grieving the loss of his first husband, and glacial towards Barry at best.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don not own The Flash character or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Chapter 2

The bathing chambers were indeed grand. The waters were a deep cerulean blue with the square and rectangular marble pools. The ceilings were high and inlaid with stained glass in the shades of deep blues and indigos and shaped like snowflakes. With the light from outside streaming in through them, they projected snowflakes made of light over the serene waters.

As Barry, Joe, Cisco, and Eddie all stood at the grand entrance, with the Nevarian servants waiting to attend them, Joe stood before Barry and gripped his son by the shoulders as he spoke, a warm, if somewhat sad smile on his face as he spoke.

" Alright Barry, we'll see you in a bit. Just follow their directions and be calm son."

Joe then pulled Barry into a big bear hug, Barry chuckling against Joe's shoulder as he returned it just as hard. The moment Joe let go, Eddie took over, giving Barry a firm squeeze as he spoke into his brother-in-law's ear.

" Don't drown yourself if you suddenly get cold feet."

Barry simply laughed and patted Eddie's back, knowing full well that Eddie was doing his best to keep the mood light.

" I'll be okay Eddie, I promise." As they drew away Barry could see that Eddie's clear blue eyes were starting to get a little over-bright, which in turn had Barry feeling his own eyes start to sting.

Not wanting to embarrass Eddie or himself, Barry quickly took his leave with Cisco ever by his side, the four of them splitting up and heading to different pools to bathe and for lack of a better term, get pampered and primped.

Growing up a royal, Barry was well accustomed to bathing in such a setting, with many people attending him. With this in mind, Barry had ducked behind the privacy screen that had been set up in order to quickly divest himself of his attire, going so far as to neatly fold everything once he had donned the thin yet luxurious white robe that had been provided for him. Cisco, who had already bathed ducked away behind another screen where the clothes that he would be wearing to the ceremony had been placed. He dressed quickly and efficiently in the sleek black and red suit and put on the simple chain of braided gold that met at the center with a median sized version of the Central Kingdom emblem inlaid within a disc of gold and then came back out. Cisco took a seat in view of the pool Barry would be using and waited. He would be helping his prince dress and get ready after the bath.

When Barry came back out from behind the screen the Nevarian servants, four handsome men around Barry's age all stood in a single straight line leading up to the large square bathing pool, each holding a tray with various soaps and oils from which Barry was to pick and choose. As he walked up to each tray, Barry remembered Lisa mentioning to him that Mick Rory had been particularly fond of a combination of Sandalwood and a hint of cinnamon. Barry had it in mind to avoid that combination at all costs, out of respect from Mick Rory, consideration of Leonard's feelings, and also his own desire to be himself, even down to how he smelled.

Barry instead went about making his own combination. Remembering the emblem of Central Kingdom, as silly as it sounded, where Mick Rory had been the flame, Barry wanted to be the lightening. Barry inspected several oils and soaps and came up with a simple combination of two exclusively Nevarian soaps and pure spearmint oil. Once these were thrown into the water and allowed to melt and combine into a soft looking foam on the waters surface, Barry took off the robe and tossed it, and modesty aside as he descended the marble steps into the pool.

The bath was heavenly and helped to settle Barry's nerves. A thousand different thoughts did pass through his mind though, the chief thoughts revolving around his husband to be. If Barry were honest with himself, despite his forty-three years of age, Leonard was a striking man, with those steel-blue eyes that seemed to pierce right into his soul. There was also ice in that gaze whenever directed at Barry himself, and the young prince felt sadness rise up inside him at that. Leonard's loss was great, Lisa had told them all that Leonard and Mick had been thirteen years before they had been ripped apart by fate.

Barry quickly shook himself out of his musings and focused on the task at hand, climbing out of the pool of now lukewarm water and making his way over to the shower to rinse off whatever soap clung to his skin. Once that was done, Cisco materialized with a towel, playfully tossing it to Barry who grinned back and quickly dried himself off. Cisco then retrieved the white robe from earlier and Barry quickly donned it before he was whisked away to get ready. The white bathing robe was quickly replaced with a simply undershirt and loos trousers that could easily be taken off while the Nevarian servants and Cisco are milled about Barry like bees would in a hive.

Two of the Navrian men went about drying and styling Barry's hair while the other two went about massaging and plying Barry's already smooth skin with the same scents as the bath. Cisco who had been unwrapping and opening the boxes that contained Barry's wedding attire looked up and grinned at his Prince and best friend

" Would you like some blush on your cheeks your majesty?" Cisco

In response Barry simply smile and sent Cisco a rude hand gesture that actually had the Nevarian men smiling and chuckling. Barry smiled up at the servants at that. It was really refreshing that while there would always be an air of formality in the palace, it was not so stifling to where a person could not be themselves. The Nervarians were always very warm and inviting. On many of the tours that Princess Lisa had taken them on, there would always be someone warmly asking if they wanted anything to drink or eat. The guards and servants were always helpful to Barry whenever he needed to ask for direction since the Nevarian palace was so vast. Whenever a question regarding Nevarian history was asked, there was always an that while in-depth did not drag on.

Princess Lisa herself was so relaxed and often time irreverent with her sarcastic whit. Barry felt his smile dim somewhat, for while he felt like he had gotten to know Princess Lisa during the week prior and got along so well with her as to count her as his new sister, and she counting him as her new brother; he knew next to nothing about Leonard besides what he looked like, the sound of his voice, and the tragedy that had befallen him. Barry didn't even know what kind of foods Leonard was partial to, didn't know the sound of Leonard's laugh, didn't know if he possessed the same sarcastic whit as Princess Lisa. Barry didn't even know what a true smile looked like on Leonard's face.

The smile Barry had seen from Leonard that first day they had met was a brittle imitation that did not reach his eyes, the kind of smile one would use for a diplomatic event or... a stranger. Barry did his best not to let his sadness show, for that is indeed what he and Leonard were. Strangers, strangers who would after today be irrevocably bound to each other.

Barry quickly shook himself of his melancholic thoughts and focused on the task at hand. Once the servants had finished with his hair and skin Barry made quick work of donning his undergarments and socks before he put on dark, burgundy red leather trousers that Cisco handed him from one of the boxes. Joe and Eddie had walked into the lavish suite. Joe and Eddie were both dressed to the nines. Joe had on a tudor style deep bronze jacket and leather trousers with knee-length boots, over which was a sleeveless coat of the same deep bronze color with a dark red underside. Lush, creamy white fur lined the hem of the coat, more voluminous at the top, adding to the very regal look. Around Joe's shoulders was an ornate chain of golden Central Kingdom emblems meeting at the center from which hung a large square cut yellow diamond.

Eddie was dressed in a dark green tudor style coat, across his chest and over his right shoulder was a red sash. A chain of emeralds inlaid in silver surrounded by small diamonds, meeting at the center in a smaller, silver version of the Central Kingdom emblem. Around his waist was a similar belt from which hung a ceremonial saber.

Both Joe and Eddie were carrying long dark wooden boxes in their hands, each baring the emblem of Central Kingdom. Barry eyes the box in Joe's hands curiously as Joe stepped over to the boxes and chests that had been brought in containing all of Barry's wedding attire. Barry turned away when a smiling Eddie made his way over to Barry were he was sitting. Barry's brother in law came to stand before him and held out the long box.

" Hey Bar, this came in yesterday. Iris is waiting outside, she wants you to look it over before she goes and presents it to Leonard."

Barry instantly knew what Eddie was holding as he rose to his feet and opened the box. The lid opened easily to reveal stunningly crafted two handed sword that gleamed with an almost otherworldly quality in the light. Long, straight, and elegant with a spiraling hilt that enter in an expertly crafted pommel that was shaped like two snowflakes and two lightening bolts intercrossing. Beside the sword rested it's elegant blue toned scabbard made of high quality leather over which was pressed swirling, silvery pattern that ran down its center and stopped about an inch from its point. Accompanying the great sword was a wide black leather belt inlaid with two neat rows aquamarine and white stones.

" Holy crap that is awesome." Cisco said with a grin, his eyes wide and riveted as they gazed appreciatively at the sword.

Barry was thrilled, for he had been the one to commission Central Kingdom's best smiths to create this stunning weapon. As was the custom, whenever someone was getting married, they would have a special, personal gift made for their intended. This gift would then be delivered by that commissioner's sibling or parent to the intended, with the intended doing the same.

Nevar did not have such a custom, but when Lisa found out about the gift exchange, she had assured them all that come the big day, Barry would indeed be getting a gift from Leonard.

Barry reached out and ran his fingertips over the spiraling hilt of the sword, marveling at the beauty of the craftsmanship. He looked up to meet Eddie's smiling blue eyes as he spoke, uncertainty in his tone.

" Do you think he'll like it?" Eddie nodded.

" He'd be crazy not to Barry, I mean look at it, it is a work of art." Joe nodded his own approval.

With a smile Barry nodded before he took a steadying breath.

" Okay then, tell Iris she has the go ahead but to keep the shovel-talk to a minimum." To this a smiling Eddie quirked his brow.

" Minimum? Are you forgetting just who we're talking about here?" Barry threw his head back and laughed then, for no truer words were spoken.

Eddie chuckled as well before he gave Barry and final nod and headed towards the doors of the suite to go give Iris Barry's gift to deliver to her soon to be brother in law. Once Eddie returned, Joe dismissed the four Nevarian servants before he, Eddie, and Cisco set to work on getting Barry ready.

 _Meanwhile, in the royal apartments a few floors up from Barry's suite..._

Leonard Snart kept still as he allowed long and elegant fingers to adjust the heavy ornate chain draped over his shoulders for the umpteenth time. The chain of intricately woven silver was accented by glittering white diamonds arranged to look like lines of little snowflakes from the ends of with hung a singe teardrop shaped crystal that was prism like against the light. At the very center of the chain was a glittering version of the Nevarian emblem inlaid with more sapphires, aquamarine stones, and white diamonds and the delicate lines of silver that made up the entire frame of the emblem seemed encased in ice, much like the ice-like material that was used to accent the buildings throughout the Winter Kingdom.

The king of Nevar was dressed in finery, a deep royal blue colored Tudor style jacket with a high collar and silver piping vertically striping the garment and swirling up the sleeves. Over this he wore a heavy sleeveless, floor-length coat of the same color lined with a luscious looking light brown fur. ( Like the fur on the hood of a certain parka*). Black leather trousers and knee length boots finished off the main look.

He looked every bit the king he was despite his head remaining without a crown for the moment, but his face may as well have been carved from stone as his steely blue gray eyes stared almost angrily at the far wall. The thumb of his left hand rubbed over his ring finger, which was now devoid of the ring that had once adorned it for more than a decade. Now there was only the lingering, light indentation it had left.

In front of him, Princess Lisa Snart looked breathtaking in a deep fuchsia gown with bell sleeves of material that seemed to almost float as she moved. Around her neck was a glittering choker of pears and diamond, more pearls and diamonds draped around the off-shoulder neckline of her gown. Her hair was done up in an elegant half-up half-down style, atop of which rested stunning tiara of white diamonds that formed five perfect snowflakes, with a large central flake flanked by four progressively smaller flakes, with swirls of silver in between. As she adjusted the chain draped from her older brother's shoulders, she took a fleeting glance at her brother's quietly thunderous expression and spoke as she moved on to smoothing out the fur of his coat.

" It's been five years Len, he'd want you to move on. Besides that, Barry's amazing, he'd be really good for you if you'd actually stay on the same room with him for once."

Lisa looked up to meet the stormy eyes that were leveled her way without so much as blinking. She had been on the receiving end of many glazer from these eyes throughout her life, but this time around, behind the muted anger and ice, she could see the all consuming pain her brother was doing his best to hide.

" He's just a kid Lisa, I may as well be robbing the cradle." Leonard said finally, his soft baritone voice hard in reflection of his mood.

" And besides, he's only going through with this because we helped save his sister's life."

Lisa just shook her head and sighed sadly.

" No he's not Len, if you had bothered to actually spend some time with him you'd know that he's not doing this out of some sense that he owes you for saving Iris, or out of pity."

" Then why is he doing this? Why out of every single person on this earth did he agree to marry me?" Then with a frustrated sound Leonard stepped away from Lisa and paced a little before he faced his sister again, a look of frustration clear on his handsome features.

" I am almost twenty years older than him, we only just met a week ago, and now me and him are supposed to just be blissfully happy? It doesn't work that way Sis, this isn't some magical fucking fairytale where I am going to be all deliriously happy. I'm not going to forget Mick and be satisfied with some newer younger spouse. Just... Just why is Barry going through with with Lisa? Please just tell me."

Lisa felt her heart break at the quietly desperate look Leonard was sending her, but she quickly hardened her resolve as she stepped across the room to her brother and took his troubled face into her hands.

" Listen to me Len, nobody is asking you to forget Mick, Hell, no one can ever forget someone like Mick. But Mick is gone and he's never coming back no matter how much you or me, or anyone else want him to. He's dead, you're still here, and now you have someone who is willing to spend the rest of their life with you. You're asking me why Barry is doing this? Well Len, I can't answer that for you, you'll have to ask Barry himself."

She watched as Leonard's face grew cold at the very thought of speaking to Barry but she wasn't having any of it. She forced her older brother to look back at her, and with a fiery promise in her own pale blue eyes she spoke.

" You can be as mad at the world as you want because the counsel pressured you into sending the proposal to Central Kingdom, but you are not going to take it out on Barry. Whatever his reason is, Barry decided that you would be the one for him, that says something about the impression you made, and the kind of person he is. If you hurt him I swear, brother or not, I will kick your ass all the way to Central Kingdom were King Joseph, Iris, _and_ Eddie can all have a crack at you before I kick you back to here and tear apart whatever is left of you, do you get me Big brother?"

Leonard didn't have to look hard to know that little sister was dead serious, and just as he was about to make some sarcastic comment about how Barry had basically stolen his sister's love out from under him in the span of just a week, Lisa's expression melted and she pulled his head down a little so that she could rest her forehead against his as she spoke.

" Don't worry big brother, I have a shovel-speech ready for Barry too when I go and present him with your gift. He may be awesome, but that doesn't mean he's perfect."

Len found his lips turning upward despite himself as he leaned back and pressed his lips to his sister's forehead in a rare show of affection. Lisa accepted the gesture but noted that her brother had remained tellingly silent regarding her words about Barry. But before she could comment any further there was a knock at the door to the suite Leonard was getting ready in after he had taken a bath in his private bathing chambers.

" Enter." Leonard ordered simply.

The door swung away to reveal Caitlyn Snow, Lisa's personal handmaiden, dressed in a pale blue gown similar to Lisa's but with a square neckline and simple pearl jewelry, her light brown hair done in a simple yet elegant bun at the back of her head with a few wavy strands of hair loose to frame either side of her face. She stood in the doorway and spoke formally, but with a smile tugging at her lips.

" Your Highnesses, Her Majesty Princess Iris West of Central Kingdom wishes entrance. Will you allow her?"

Lisa grinned while Leonard composed himself and schooled his features before nodding.

" She is more than welcome Lady Snow."

Caitlyn nodded and stepped aside to clear the way. Then Iris was crossing over the threshold, carrying the long and sleek box with the sunburst emblem of Central Kingdom carved into its center. Iris walked until she was in the center of the room, a warm smile on her lips as she looked at the Snart siblings. She was resplendently dressed in a heavy, soft gold, long sleeve gown gown with a red sash across her chest. Here long ebony hair was done up in a single thick braid that fell over her shoulder, made all the more stunning by the pearls and diamonds that had been woven into it. Around her neck was a gold filigree necklace inlaid with glittering rubies and pearls with matching warnings. Atop her head was a simple, elegant matching filigree tiara with the Central Kingdom emblem at its center. She looked absolutely breathtaking. Had Leonard been inclined, he would have lamented that he could not take Iris as his queen, but seeing as to how he was not, Leonard could instead comment in his head that Eddie Thawne was a very lucky man.

Iris's eyes immediately went to Leonard as she spoke, holding out the box.

" As per the customs of Central Kingdom, my brother, your intended has sent you this gift as a token of his gratitude for agreeing to join with him in the bond of marriage and of his promise to be by your side always."

Leonard stepped forward and reached for the box's lid, Lisa stepping forward too as he slowly pushed the box open. When the lid was fully pushed back, Lisa found herself gasping before she could stop herself, while Leonard's eyes were wide in surprise and maybe even a little awe. Iris smiled brightly at the reactions of the Nevarian King and his sister.

Leonard reached out, but paused, his eyes going to Iris who simply nodded and held the box up further. In a hallowed silence Lias and Iris watched as Leonard carefully took the sword out of the box and held it in his hands, one hand at the hilt while the other carefully supported the gleaming blade. Leonard tracked his eyes along the entire length of sword's bright edge before he took the hilt into both hands and held it with the practiced ease and control of an experienced swordsmen.

With a glint in his steely eyes, Leonard looked past Iris to where Caitlyn was standing beside a table that had a bowl of fruit resting atop it and addressed her.

" My dear Lady Caitlyn, would you be so kind as to throw one of those apples beside you in my direction."

Caitlyn, Lisa, and Iris were quick to understand what Leonard intended to do, so Lisa and Iris quickly got out of the way while Caitlyn nodded and picked up one of the large, ripe looking apples from the bowl and readied her stance. Leonard, with a smirk curling up the corner of his lips readied himself and held the sword steady in both hands. Then he pulled his arms back and gave Caitlyn a nod. She nodded back and threw the apple straight at him.

As he swung, the blade seemed to almost sing as he cut through the air, time seeming to slow down as the apple sailed across the room. Then with a dull thud it was over, the blade gleamed bright and clean in Leonard's hand, while the apple lay perfectly slice in half on the carpeted floor. There was another beat of silence before Iris was letting out a breathless laugh while Lisa was literally bounding on her feet. Caitlyn let out a relieved breath and quickly ran forward to retrieve the two apple slices and disposing of them before she curtsied to Leonard and stepped back to where she had been standing.

Iris then came forward with the box and spoke.

" It would honor all of us, but especially my brother if you would wear this gift to the ceremony. Will you?" She asked quietly.

Leonard suddenly found that he could not quite speak, so his nodded before picking up the scabbard and sheathing the sword within it. Iris handed the box over to Caitlyn who had come forward before she reached in and pulled the last remaining item, the sword belt.

" May I place this on you, brother?" Iris asked, her eyes stating to shine brightly.

Lisa watched with her own eyes lightly stinging as Leonard swallowed for a second before he finally spoke, nodding his head.

" You may, sister."

Iris stepped forward and placed the sword belt around Leonard's waist beneath his fur over coat and made sure it was snug before she took the sword and set it on the belt so that it hung from Leonard's left hip.

Leonard than gestured to Lisa, who nodded and walked past them to a nearby table where a large, flat box sat. Picking it up, Lisa made her way back to her brother and handed it to Leonard.

" Princess Iris, please tell Prince Bartholomew that I am more than happy with the gift he has given me, and that I hope that the gift I send to him in return is not inadequate."

With that, Leonard held out the box to Iris. Still smiling, Iris reached out and pushed open the lid. What she saw inside had her mouth falling open before she looked back up at Leonard and Lisa with her eyes filling and a smiling spreading wide across her face.

" They're perfect." She said simply before she closed the lid. Leonard handed the box over to Lisa and once he hands were free he found himself suddenly taken into a tight and unexpected embrace by Iris.

Leonard was stunned for a moment before his brotherly instincts kicked in and he was wrapping his arms around his soon to be sister-in-law. Lisa and Caitlyn both fell back a bit to give them some space. It was then that Iris spoke so that only he could hear her.

" I know you're still hurting badly, and I am sorry that you lost your first husband, but please, please realize that Barry is here, and he's here just for you so please give him a chance. And yeah, if you hurt him, king or not, they won't ever find your body you get me?"

Leonard nodded against Iris's shoulder.

" I get you, and I will try, can't make any guarantees though."

" Okay, that's all any of us can ask. Thank you."

With a final nod from Leonard, Iris drew away. She then hugged Lisa soundly before she turned to Caitlyn and took the box containing Barry's gift.

" I'll see you soon." Iris said with a final smile to Leonard before she and Lisa left the suite with Caitlyn following behind them.

Now that he was alone, Leonard made his way over to the large standing mirror and stared at his reflection. In the privacy the solitude afforded him, Leonard allowed himself to hand his head and allow a few of the tears he had been holding at bay break free and carve bitter trails down his cheeks. It was a very excruciating feeling, having the pain of love lost warring with the inevitable excitement of a possible new future. Leonard allowed a single, strangled sob to escape him before he forced himself to stop. He stood up straight and wiped away the salt that clung to his cheeks.

He was the king of Nevar, it would not due to start balling his eyes out no matter how much he wanted to.

As his hand gripped the hilt of the new and exquisite sword he had just been gifted with by his intended and wanting the ground to just swallow him up, Leonard looked down at it with still sad eyes and he could not help but feel like today was not really his wedding day, but the day he would destroy an innocent young man's life.

 _Back downstairs in Barry's suite..._

" You look amazing Barry." Cisco said with a smile, while Joe and Eddie nodded in agreement.

Barry stood tall and regal, finally dressed in his wedding garments. He wore a a deep, almost blood red Tudor jacket with a gold and silver filigree design all over it, and with gold piping swirling down the sleeves. At his back hung a long, floor length red cape with the Central Kingdom emblem sewn in gold thread instead of the long sleeveless overcoat, and lined with light brown, almost auburn hued fur. Draped over his shoulders was a stunning chain of rubies inlaid in gold with the Central emblem hanging at its center, though it was smaller than the chain he had worn when he first laid eyes on Leonard.

Barry smiled, doing his best not to let the nerves that were slowly but surely rising within him. Then Joe moved over to the remaining item now that the many boxes had been cleared away.

" I have something very special for you son." Joe said, his voice already sounding a little choked up as he presented the long box he had walked into the room with to Barry.

Curious, Barry reached out and pushed back the lid and immediately felt the breath leave his body.

There within the box was a gorgeous long sword with matching deep burgundy scabbard. It was simple and sleek, gleaming brightly in the light, with a sparkling blood-red jewel inlaid within the circular pommel. While the sword itself was breathtakingly beautiful, Barry's reaction was for a whole other reason, for this was not some ordinary sword.

This sword had once belonged to Barry's father, King Henry Allen. Now Joe was presenting it to Barry, its rightful owner.

Barely keeping himself from bawling right them and there, the young prince reverently reached into the box and pulled the fine blade out by the hilt, gazing at it admiringly for he had not seen this sword since he had been a little boy and his parents yet lived.

Joe allowed a single tear to escape him, for no words needed to be said as he reached into the box for the scabbard and simple, gold studded sword belt before handing the box over to Cisco.

Barry barely notice when his adoptive father wrapped the sword belt and scabbard around his waist and did up the buckles to secure them in place, his gaze transfixed on his father's sword, his eyes bright with the sheen of tears. Barry quickly caught himself and laughed a little out of embarrassment before he smoothly sheathed the sword in the scabbard. He gave the entire ensemble a few tugs just to shift and adjust it till he was comfortable.

" It's heavy." He commented with another teary laugh.

Joe chuckled before he pulled Barry into another bear hug, Barry returning it whole-heartedly. When they drew back, Joe gripped the side of Barry's neck and spoke.

" Your father wanted you to have that sword with you when you got married, just like he had it when he married your mom. Speaking of which, there's one more thing." He said as he reached into his coat, while Barry let out another breathless laugh and waited to see what Joe would give him next.

Barry, Eddie, and Cisco all watched as Joe pulled out a small oval shaped jewelry box. Joe gently pushed the lid of the box open and the moment Barry's eyes fell on what was inside, he felt his heart slam to a complete stop as the tears he had been keeping at bay finally broke free.

There inside the box was an elegant ruby and gold ring. The ruby was uniquely cut in the shape of a hexagon, surrounded by tiny, glittering diamonds. Slightly bigger diamonds were inlaid around the circumference of the ring. But once more, the rings exquisite beauty was not why Barry was reacting so. With slightly trembling hands Barry reached out and picked the ring up out of its box, angling it so that he could see the inside of the band.

There engraved on the inside was a letter H and a letter N with a tiny little heart connecting them in the middle.

H for Henry and N for Nora, Barry's mother. This was his mother's engagement ring. As he recalled, Barry had seen that this ring had not been on his mother's finger when she and his father had been laid to rest in the royal mausoleum, now he knew that it had been with Joe for safe keeping. Barry looked up when a pair of warm and familiar hands held his face, and saw Joe smiling, but also crying. With some effort Barry's adoptive father spoke.

" She wanted you to have it Barry, either to give to the woman who would be your wife, or for yourself if you were going to marry the right man."

Barry found that he could not speak as Joe let go of him. Eddie and Cisco didn't bother to hide how moved they were as they all watched Barry placed his mother's ring over his right pinky, the only finger on which it would fit. It looked perfect though regardless and matched perfectly with Barry's overall look. Still unable to speak, Barry all but tackled Joe in a fierce hug, one that the other man returned fervently.

" They should be here Joe." Barry finally said against Joe's shoulder.

" They are son, they're here with you now and they'll always be with you Bar." Joe said in assurance.

Once Joe and Barry parted, Eddie took up in squeezing Barry, followed closely by Cisco. Thankfully, by the time that there was a knock on the suite door announcing Iris, Lisa, and Caitlyn's arrival, Barry and the most important men in his life had all composed themselves enough to be presentable to the lovely ladies.

Iris immediately made her way over to Barry and hugged him, nearly losing it herself when she noticed the sword and the ring. Lisa stood a few feet away smiling at the moment the siblings shared. Her smile widened further when her eyes found those of Cisco, who seemed transfixed by the sight of Lisa in her gown, a dreamy look on his face. It was quite possible that Cisco would have gone on staring like that all day, but thankfully Eddie was once again there with his elbow to bring the young man back to the present.

Once Barry and Iris had pulled away, Lisa had come forward holding out the box as she spoke formally, doing her best to speak the words that Iris had spoken earlier.

" As per the custom of your people, my brother had sent you this gift as a token of his gratitude that you have agreed to join him in the bonds of marriage."

Barry took a step forward and reached for the box, pushing back the lid and feeling his eyes widen at what he found inside it.

" Oh my God." He whispered.

There laying amidst the dark blue velvet cushion were three exquisite items. The first was an extravagant chain of gold and silver disc, each inlaid with a pattern of oval cut rubies, sapphires, and diamonds. While the chain itself was more than enough, it was the center that was the showstopper. There in interweaving gold and silver strands was the emblem of Nevar, the snowflake with more rubies, sapphires and diamonds. But in a circle within the snowflake was a shining lightening bolt made of gold.

Like Barry had done with the pommel of Leonard's sword, Leonard had commissioned a chain with the emblems of both kingdoms combined. And it was exquisite. The second item was a smaller version of the showstopper, most likely to be worn for daily life, but no less stunning. The final item was a gleaming ceremonial dagger The blade was straight and double edged, with a white hilt and a pommel shaped like a roaring lion's head.

Barry looked up to meet Lisa's smiling gaze, shaking his head.

" Lisa this is too much." Lisa simply handed the box over to Cisco with a smile and pulled out the heavy, ornate chain.

A slightly dazed Barry obediently leaned down and allowed Lisa to place the chain over his head and drape it over his shoulders. It was heavy, and it fell to where the combined emblem fell to the middle of Barry's front. The entire thing perfectly framed the gold and ruby chain with the regular emblem that Barry was already wearing. The smaller chain was kept in the box while Lisa picked up the gleaming dagger and sheathed it in its matching scabbard before she looped it onto Barry's sword belt.

She then took a step back and everyone else joined her in admiring. Barry himself fought the blush that warmed his cheeks at the appreciative looks his family was sending him before he turned to the large standing mirror.

" Oh wow." Barry whispered under his breath as he gazed at his reflection.

One would think that wearing so much finery would be too much, too gaudy, but instead there was this perfect balance to it all, from the deep red colored garments to the beautiful weapons, and finally the exquisite jewels. When Barry turned back to face his family, he found himself in a tight hug from Lisa, which he easily returned with a soft laugh. Lisa spoke quietly into his ear.

" Its not going to be easy for you, but I know now that if there is anyone who can get through the walls Len has put up, it's you. But if you hurt him, its me you'll have to deal with. Got it new brother?"

Barry grinned and tightened his hold around Lisa and nodded against her shoulder.

" Loud and clear new sister." He said just as quietly.

With a final squeeze Lisa let Barry go and took her leave of them all to get back to her brother's side.

In the ensuing minutes everyone did their last minute primping before three servants came in baring the final pieces of barry, Joe, and Eddie's attires.

The crowns.

For Joe there was the regal sunburst crown of Central Kingdom, made of gold with rubies and diamonds around the entire circumference, culminating in the Central kingdom emblem of the sunburst and lightening bolt accented with diamonds that seemed to almost glow in the light. For Eddie there was a simple coronet of gold filigree to match his wife's tiara. And finally for Barry there was coronet which was the smaller version of Joe's crown.

Joe was the first to don his crown, then Eddie took a knee before him so that Joe could place the filigree coronet on his head. With a smile Eddie stood and made his way to Iris's side.

Then Barry stepped forward and took an knee, smiling up at his adopted father. Joe did his best to yet again keep his composure as he carefully picked up the sunburst coronet and placed it on his adoptive son's head. With a bright smile, Barry rose to his feet and hugged Joe tightly. More hugs from Eddie, Iris, and Cisco followed.

It was about ten minutes later when there was another knock at the door. When it opened, Ronald Raymond, a captain of the Nevarian army and Caitlyn Snow's husband came in. Dressed in ceremonial armor with a long cerulean and cobalt blue cape with the Nevarian snowflake, Ronald, or Ronnie as he liked to be called, stood to attention before the Central Kingdom royals and bowed. Then Ronnie spoke with all formality, though there was a warm smile in his eyes.

" Your majesties, my King, Leonard Snart awaits you in the great hall and has dispatched me to escort you. Will you allow me this honor?"

All eyes turned to Barry who straightened his spine, looking more like a king then the prince he was as he spoke.

" I will allow it, with gratitude on behalf of my family and myself."

Ronnie gave them all another deep bow, allowing a small smile to grace his handsome features before he waited patiently for them to line up. Eddie and Iris were first, standing side by side. Then Joe and Barry stood side by side, and finally Cisco came up behind them and picked up the end of Barry's cape. Once they were in formation, Ronnie himself turned and nodded to the servants who were standing by the doors to the suite.

In perfect unison these servants opened the doors. There was a pause here, covered in a charged silence. Then with a breath, Ronnie was stepping forward. After him Eddie and Iris stepped forward, and following them was Barry, Joe, and Cisco.

As they walked out of the suite into the lavish hallway, Barry did his best to keep calm. He was walking to his wedding in the great Nevarian hall.

He was walking to whatever future he had chosen for himself, with Leonard Snart.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don not own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Author's note: Please try listening to "Stay With Me" from the soundtrack to the movie "The Fountain".

Chapter 3

The great hall of the Nevarian palace seemed to be housing all of the kingdom's inhabitants for it was filled to the brim and abuzz with excited chatter. The light of the noon sun streamed in ethereally through the floor to ceiling arched windows that lined either side of the hall. The entire hierarchy was more or less in attendance. It started with the lesser royals, then the rest of the nobility, and finally the gentry. Off to one side were several men all dressed in stately black and white robes, at the head of which stood Martin Stein. These were Joe's many advisors who had come to attend the wedding while a quorum remained to run things in Central Kingdom. Across from them stood a large and meet group of men dressed in deep indigo and silver robes, Leonard's group of advisors. Everyone was on either side of the large cobalt blue carpet that led to the marble steps of the main dais where the ceremony would be performed.

Standing on the raised white marble dais was Leonard, decked out in his finery and now with a magnificent crown of platinum filigree shaped like snowflakes with diamond accents and two rows of rectangular cut sapphires around the circumference atop his head, paid no attention to the chatter. His eyes, stormy with all that he was feeling were focused instead on the large grandfather clock that stood by the far wall.

The ceremony was to start promptly at noon. As of now there was still five minutes left before things would start. The chime would sound and then things would begin.

As he stood there Leonard was desperately fighting the urge to tear off everything he was wearing and destroy everything he could get his hands on and call the whole thing off.

" Would you lighten up already?" Came a quiet and exasperated voice beside him.

Len turned his gaze away from the clock to meet Lisa's stern gaze. He just glowered back and remained silent while Lisa rolled her eyes.

Len's mood had steadily gone down with each step he had taken towards the great hall, he and Lisa had walked down the aisle hand in hand to the sound of the grand trumpets, and by the time they had reached the dais said mood had bottomed out to where Leonard really did not want any part of the whole event. Instead he had felt an overwhelming wave of guilt wash over him because he had felt excited earlier. Now his mind was bombarding him with memories of nearly a decade earlier, when he had stood at this very spot and married Mick, who had looked gorgeous in robes of deep bronze and bright crimson, the colors of his kingdom. That had been the day that he had married the man that he loved with all his heart.

Now Mick was gone forever and he was set to marry this handsome young stranger who had been insane enough to agree to marry him in the first place.

Leonard was so lost in his doubtful and quietly angry thoughts that he very nearly jumped out of his skin when the chime of the clock sounded and echoes through the great hall. The entire hall grew silent by the time the second chime started. There was a third and final chime before everything fell into a hallowed silence. Leonard stood up straighter and felt his heart start to pound inside his chest. As per Nevarian custom he would have to remain facing forward, not allowed to see Barry until the latter reached the end of the blue aisle.

At the great arched doors of the hall, Mark Mardon stood in his best ceremonial armor. Taking a deep breath, he rendered his first order, his voice carrying loudly over the silent hall.

" Company, march!"

The thunderous sound of metal-clad feet filled the air as the King's royal guardsmen marched into the hall in single file through the two side entrances, every single man decked out in gleaming silver armor with cobalt blue capes emblazoned with the Nevarian emblem, each carrying a wicked looking ceremonial lance. The guardsmen marched flanking either side of cobalt carpet. When they stopped they were still facing ahead and awaiting their next command.

" Face center!" Came Mardon's deep voice.

In perfect unison the men turned and face inward towards the carpet, standing so that there was ample room between them. The reason why this was revealed itself a few minutes later as Captain Singh came and stood beside General Mardon, dressed in exquisite golden ceremonial armor with a deep red cape emblazoned with the Central Kingdom's emblem. Taking a deep breath it was now his voice that carried over the expanse of the hall.

" Company, march!"

Now it was two pristine rows of golden armored guard, barring great broadswords clasped in front of them by the hilts with the blades pointed downward that marched in through the side doors. They too flanked the blue carpet and came to stand a few feet in front of the space between the Nevarian guards. It was Mardon who then called out the next order.

" Company, forward!"

As one the Nevarian guard stepped forward, coming to stand between the Central Kingdom guards, thus smoothly combining the ranks. They now stood together alternating between Nevarian silver and Central Kingdom gold.

As one Mardon and Singh as commanders spoke.

" Attention."

In perfect unison the guards all stood to attention, bringing down the ends of their lanced and the tips of their swords on the floor with a resounding thud. Sharing a smile, the two commanders then stepped forward and proceeded down the cobalt isle, coming to stand on either side of the end of the carpet.

All eyes, except for Leonard's then turned to the doors of the great hall. There was a beat of silence before another chime sounded. With the sound of many gears turned and a loud groan, the door cracked at the middle and slowly fell away to reveal the Central Kingdom royals. It was then that the royal announcer stepped forward and spoke.

" Presenting, their Royal Highnesses Iris Elizabeth Mary West, Princess of Central Kingdom and Edward James Anthony Thawne, Prince Consort of Central Kingdom.

The trumpets sounded as Iris and Eddie walked regally into the hall hand in hand. When they reached the start of the cobalt carpet, Eddie bowed while Iris curtsied gracefully before they proceeded down the cobalt aisle, their steps slow and measured. There were many murmurs and cheers of appreciation as the attractive couple passed, Eddie and Iris smiling brightly despite the formality of it all.

Once Eddie and Iris had walked the length of the cobalt carpet, the came to stand at the foot of the dais, both sending Lisa bright smiles before they turned their gaze back towards the entrance.

Now the trumpets sounded in full force before both Singh and Mardon called out.

" Company, present arms!"

As one the Nevarian guards lilted there lances forward while the Central Kingdom guards raised their swords. The the royal announcer's voice rang out.

" Presenting His Majesty, Joseph Martin West, Supreme Ruler of Central Kingdom, who along side his Grace, Marquis Cisco Antonio Ramon is escorting his beloved son, His Royal Highness, Bartholomew Henry Allen, Prince of Central Kingdom, who on this day comes to join in the bonds of marriage with our king."

The trumpeters played a jovial tune as Joe and Barry walked into the great hall, looking resplendent and regal in the light that illuminated the hall. The excited murmurs and cheers from when Eddie and Iris had walked down the cobalt aisle were now replaced with an awed sort of silence. People were literally gawking at Barry as Joe walked him down the aisle.

Barry did his best to remain calm and not let his eyes dart around the place too much. There were just so many new and smiling faces that it was a bit overwhelming. But when his eyes focused on what lay up ahead, Barry felt his heart stop for a split second because there standing with his back to everything on the raised dais was Leonard Snart, the King of this land, and the man he would be marrying. Even though Leonard had his back to him, Barry felt a shaky breath escape him because with the color of his outfit, the fur over coat, and the crown, even from the back he looked amazing. Now Barry was dying to face his intended. However, this was still a wedding, and a royal one at that, he could just run down the aisle as fast as he could dragging Joe and Cisco with him. Instead, Barry settled his nerves and kept an even gait beside his father, all the while with his eyes more or less now riveted to the back view of his soon to be husband.

The cobalt carpet seemed to go on forever and at the same time ended almost abruptly as Barry found himself pausing at the foot of the dais with Joe beside him. Barry looked from Eddie, When he felt Joe's hand settle over his left shoulder, Barry turned his head to give his adoptive father what he hoped was a reassuring smile. The king of Central Kingdom already looked a little misty eyed as they waited for things to proceed.

There was a moment of silence before the announcer spoke once more.

" Now come forth he who has the honor of presiding over the royal nuptials. His grace, Lord Harrison Wells, Chief Advisor to his majesty the King"

All eyes turned to the side entrance that stood off to the side of the dais and watched a tall man with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes walked in through it. Dressed in a slightly darker shade of the indigo color that the rest of the Nevarian counsel was wearing, and with a white ruffled collar, around his neck hung a simply chain of silver filigree snowflakes that met at the center from which hung a shining platinum Nervarian snowflake emblem.

As Wells came to stand at the center of the dais he would have been a really intimidating figure, but instead a warm smile spread across the man's face, showing off deep dimples and a quite wisdom. Barry instantly found himself at ease as the man gazed at him a moment before he turned his attention to the masses in attendance and bowed lightly before he spoke with practiced ease.

" Allow me start by saying that it is my honor and privilege to stand before you today and preside over these, the nuptials of our king."

Light but no less rumbling applause followed Well's words before the hall fell silent again, waiting to see what would happen next. Wells then turned to Leonard who was still standing with his back to Barry.

" My King, you may now greet your intended."

Barry felt the roar of blood rushing through his ears as Leonard nodded to Wells and then slowly turned. Time seemed to almost slow down then as Barry watched more and more of Leonard's profile emerge until his hazel green eyes were staring into those deep and intense blue-gray eyes.

From where he stood up on the dais, it took everything Leonard had not to let his jaw drop to the floor for before him was no child wet behind the ears, instead there stood a tall and handsome _man._ Though he still looked so young and almost angelic, there was something mature and regal about Barry as he stood and face Leonard, meeting his gaze unflinchingly. Despite himself, Leonard also felt several powerful emotions rush up inside him when his eyes took in the combined Central and Nevarian emblem that Barry was wearing, along with the white ceremonial dagger.

It could be said that in that moment it was hitting Leonard all at once, this young man, this brave, crazy, gorgeous young man would soon be husband, his partner for life. While Leonard did feel a dull twinge as he remembered Mick, who he had also thought would be his partner for life, Leonard felt the giddy rush of excitement from earlier return full force. Without really thinking, Leonard found himself stepping forward, descending down the steps of the dais towards Barry and Joe, his long coat trailing behind him. Well's smile widened as he observed the way his king's eyes were riveted to his exquisite intended. Lisa and Mark Mardon both smiled as they watched on. Well's himself stepped forward but remained on the dais. When Leonard came to stand before Barry and Joe he spoke, addressing Joe.

" Who give this man to be wed on this day?"

Joe stood up straighter and spoke for all to hear.

" I do, as his father by choice of heart."

" And don't forget us, his sister and brother by choice of heart." Chimed in Iris and Eddie as they stepped forward and came to stand beside Joe. Barry grinned at them all, while he blinked his eyes rapidly to hold back the waterworks.

The great hall rumbled with chuckles and laughs, the slight break in protocol welcome and refreshing. Well's himself allowed himself a half chuckle he grew serious once more and addressed his king.

" My king, do you accept the hand that is being given?"

All eyes turned to Leonard, who snapped out of his quiet stupor. They all watched with bated breath as Leonard was silent for a moment, his eyes growing stormy once more before he took a deep breath and spoke.

" I accept with utmost gratitude to the ruling family of Central Kingdom." He finally said, and there was no denying that he meant every word.

" Then let us proceed my King, please bring your intended forth."

Leonard felt a spike of anxiety go through him before he quickly quashed it, he was a give with over twenty years on the thrown of Nevar. If there was one thing he did know how to do well, it was to stomp down on nerves. Keeping that in mind, Leonard held out his hand to Barry. After another beat of charged silence, Barry stepped forward and took the offered hand, the both of them feeling this immediate spark at the contact. It was Barry who gave Leonard's hand a firm squeeze, and damned if that simple, silent gesture did not help quash the nerves further.

Hand in hand, and with Barry sending a reassuring smile over his shoulder and his family, the pair ascended the steps to the top of the dais and joined Wells. They came to stand before him and awaited further instructions. Well's looked from Barry to Leonard as he spoke.

" You Highnesses, please face each other."

Barry and Leonard did as instructed, facing each other Wells standing beside them. Well's then turned to Leonard.

" My king please take his highness's right hand into your own."

Barry raised his hand and met Leonard halfway as the latter firmly but gently gripped his hand. Wells then spoke.

" Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, do you promise to live with him, honor him, love him, and keep him in times of sickness and in times of health, and forsaking all others keep yourself only unto him for as long as you remain on this earth?"

Leonard kept his eyes locked on Barry, doing his best to keep at bay the echo of the vows he had taken more than a decade earlier when it had been a smiling Mick Rory standing before him who's hand he had held. With his tongue feeling as if it had turned to lead, Leonard forced it loose and spoke.

" I do." He said simply.

Wells nodded and then turned to Barry.

" Please switch hands." The Chief advisor instructed. Leonard and Barry did as they were bid, now with Barry reaching out with his left hand and Leonard meeting him halfway. The Wells spoke again.

" Bartholomew Henry Allen, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, do you promise to live with him, honor him, love him, and keep him in times of sickness and in times of health, and forsaking all others keep yourself only unto him for as long as you remain on this earth?"

Barry's hazel green eyes did not leave Leonard's steely blue as he spoke.

" I do."

Something seemed to shift in the air, not just between Barry and Leonard, but the entire hall. A tension that was there released with Barry and Leonard making their promises to each other.

With a nod and an approving smile sent Barry's way, Wells then turned back to Leonard and continued.

" My king, please repeat after me." The words went like this.

" I, Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, take you Bartholomew Henry Allen, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To join with you in the bonds of marriage from this day forward, to stand by you in times both prosperous and unprosperous, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish you till death do us part; and thereto I give you my undying faith and loyalty."

Leonard stumbled over the words of love and cherishing, but Barry simply squeezed his hand and remained silent till it was his turn to speak.

" I, Bartholomew Henry Allen take you Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To join with you in the bonds of marriage from this day forward, to stand by you in times both prosperous and unprosperous, in sickness and in health, to and and to cherish you till death do us part; and thereto I give you my undying faith and loyalty."

Lisa reached up and wiped away the tears that escaped her, a fatherly arm wrapping around her shoulders had her turning to see Joe beside her looking no better. Eddie was all but balling while Iris, who was misty eyed herself was rubbing a hand over his heart and smiling indulgently. Cisco was sniffling lightly blinking rapidly in an effort not to join Eddie, this was his best friend getting married after all. Mark Mardon and Singh were both smiling as they witnessed the enchant of vows between their respective King and Prince. Standing a few feet behind Lisa, Caitlyn and Ronnie stood hand in hand smiling, thrilled beyond words to see their king finally entering into the bonds of marriage, but also feeling saddened that he was bravely doing it for the second time after the devastating loss he suffered through for five whole years.

Back on the dais, Wells smiled as he reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out an ornate little silver box.

Leonard felt his heart pounding almost clear out his chest, for he knew what this box contained, and what it meant. A squeeze of his hand had Leonard turning his gaze away from the box to meet Barry's gaze.

The kid looked so calm and poised, a small smile on his lips and an endless reservoir of understanding in those gorgeous hazel-green eyes. Leonard found his nerves settling despite himself before he turned his gaze back to his Chief Advisor and the man gently opened the silver box and held it out to him.

There laying amidst the deep red velvet cushion were a set of stunningly gorgeous rings with one only marginally smaller than the other. The rings were truly unique, and yet again a combination of Nevar and Central Kingdom. The band was delicate braid of luminous gold and platinum encased in the uniquely Nevarian ice material. Inlaid around the circumference and evenly spaced out so that the braided band could show through were small, glittering oval cut diamonds.

" My king please take the appropriate ring." Wells instructed.

Doing his best to keep his hand from trembling, Leonard reached out and carefully took out the smaller ring from the box, the jewelry warming in his fingers and he turned back to Barry and raised the hand he was still holding.

" Now repeat after me your Majesty".

" With this ring, I thee wed." Leonard swallowed and looked Barry square in the eye as he carefully slid the ring onto the younger man's left ring finger.

" With this ring I thee wed." He said finally, the barest tremor in his voice.

" With my body I thee honor." Wells continued.

" With my body I thee honor." Leonard repeated, feeling something inside him keen in agony while something else rise up inside him with untold warmth at the same time.

" And with thee all my worldly goods do I share." Wells concluded.

" And with thee all my wordily goods do I share." Leonard said.

Halfway done. The hallowed silence remained as everyone else in the hall watched on.

Wells then turned to Barry and held out the box.

" Your Highness, please take the remaining ring."

Barry did as instructed, finally looking a little more nervous now then before and feeling his heart pounding in his ears as he picked up the ring and held it between his fingertips. Wells' smile grew as he spoke.

" Now please repeat after me your Highness." Barry nodded mutely before he turned his gaze back to Leonard.

" With this ring I thee wed." Wells began.

" W-With this ring I thee wed." Barry said and then proceeded to slip the ring onto Leonard's finger.

Only it was the wrong one, instead of Leonard's ring finger he had started sliding it onto his middle finger. Barry's eyes widened comically and his face reddened as he realized his mistake.

" Oh crap sorry!" Barry said as he quickly pulled the ring back from where it was a quarter way down Leonard's middle finger and started sliding it onto the right finger this time.

Leonard found the corners of his mouth curving upwards despite himself, as Barry's tiny screw up caused a ripple of chuckles to permeate the entire hall. Iris and Lisa both snickered at their brother while a tearful Joe smiled widely. Eddie let out a small, watery chuckle while Cisco grinned.

Wells waited for everyone to settle down before he continued.

" With my body I thee honor." Taking a deep breath and allowing a small, self-depricating smile to grace his lips Barry spoke. Leonard felt a wave of warmth wash over him as he beheld that smile. The warmth was quickly followed by the dull twinge of cold guilt but Leonard did his best to ignore that and focus on the now.

" With my body I thee honor."

" And with thee all my worldly goods do I share." Wells finished.

" And with thee all my worldly goods do I share." Barry repeated, feeling his throat clogging up a little.

Wells took a deep breath and then turned his gaze to the masses that were standing in charged silence.

" It is my profound honor to declare that their highnesses are now married." Then Wells turned his attention back to said couple and spoke the words that Leonard had been dreading ever since he found out that Barry had agreed to marry him.

" You may seal your covenant with a kiss."

Leonard felt his entire body go cold. Doing his best not to turn into a stuttering mess and not come across as completely petrified, Leonard spoke.

" Listen, we don't need to-" He began to say when he was gently but firmly tugged forward by the hand he was still holding. The next thing he knew there was a pair of unfamiliar yet incredibly soft and warm lips pressed to his own in a completely chaste kiss. Leonard's eyes fluttered shut as it felt like he was touching lightening itself, both from the feel of Barry's lips against his own to the intoxicating scent coming off of the younger man that filled his nostrils.

They could have been like that for hours or mere seconds, Leonard knew not for everything else seemed so far away, there was only him, and there was only Barry, the man he had just bound himself to for the rest of his days.

But all too soon it was over, and Barry was pulling away looking somewhat flabbergasted by his own actions. Leonard had no time to react himself before the two of them were bombarded by a veritable wave of roaring noise as the great hall finally erupted in cheers and applause. Barry and Leonard had enough time to gaze at each other in silence before they were being surrounded by their combined, joyful family, Lisa being the first to reach them and she threw her arms around then both and proceeded to squeeze the oxygen from their lungs. Iris was no better as she and Eddie took over after Lisa, followed by Cisco while Joe had took a moment to shake hands with Harrison Wells and thank him for presiding over the ceremony. Lord Martin Stein soon joined them, thanking Wells and holding conversation with him.

Joe all but tackled Barry in a tight hug, the younger man burying his face in his adoptive father's shoulder as the two shared a moment. When they drew back Joe tenderly cupped the side of Barry's neck before finally drawing away and turning his attention to Leonard. Leonard did his best not to fidget under his new father in law's scrutinizing gaze, but it brought him great relief when those dark and wise eyes warmed up. The next thing he knew Leonard found himself in a firm embrace as well. Unused to the fatherly embrace, Leonard did his best to remain relaxed as he returned the hug and Joe spoke into his ear.

" I already gave away one of the lights of my life to Eddie, now I am giving you the other one. I know with everything you have gone through you're thinking all of this couldn't possibly work. Things won't be easy for you or for Barry, but the things that truly matter in this life never are. Barry is my son in all but blood, just give him a chance and please don't hurt him because if you do, there will be no place on this Earth where I won't find you, do you understand?"

Leonard to the very depths of his soul that Joe meant every word. Swallowing despite himself, Leonard nodded against the older king's shoulder.

" Yes sir."

" Good man." Joe replied as he gave Leonard and sound pat on the back, the kind that would have knocked over lesser men, before he released his new son-in-law.

Leonard barely bit back a wince because damn that was hard, but instead focused on the task at hand as the trumpets began to play. It was time to leave the great hall with his new husband.

" Bartholomew." Leonard said formally as he reached out his hand.

" Leonard." Barry replied just as formally as he took the offered hand.

As one the pair began to move forward with Cisco holding up the end of Barry's long cape and Caitlyn doing the same for Leonard's long fur-lined coat. Lisa followed after on the arm of Harrison Wells, then came Eddie and Iris. After them Joe and Martin Stein walked side by side. Ronnie followed alone, ending the procession, a smiling on his face. As the newly married royals made their way back up the cobalt carpet, the cheers and applause from the crowd seemed to grow even louder.

As he walked, Barry's eyes kept going to the ring that now adorned his left hand and the man who had put it there. It felt strange and new, not just the ring itself but also what it represented. He and Leonard were now irrevocably bound.

Holy crap.

From where he walked beside Barry, Leonard had a similar feeling going through his own heart. It felt odd to have a different ring than the silver braided band he had word for over a decade. This new ring felt heavier yet comforting somehow. As he walked, Leonard too kept taking glances at his new husband amidst the nods of his head to the people in the crowd. Here he was was, somehow married to this twenty something who had his whole life ahead of him but had chosen to bind himself to him. Lisa's earlier words, that he should have spent time with Barry instead of hiding behind his royal duties came back to nag at him. As he walked, Leonard could not help but feel this cold, frozen rock of anxiety settle in the pit of his stomach. It was hitting him that he had just entered into the bonds of union that had unfortunately for him he had entered once before only for them to be ripped apart by fate. This thought certainly helped to dismantle some of the euphoria Leonard had felt just moments earlier.

Damn unrelenting guilt.

 _About an hour later..._

The reception was in full swing in the formal dining hall of the Nevarian palace. Great tables laden with sumptuous cuisine both Nevarian and native to Central Kingdom formed a rectangle that snapped the entire length of the hall, leaving the space inside free and clear for the merry dancing that was happening.

Seated at the head of the table in two large, almost thrown like chairs with intricate carvings and gilded designs were Leonard and Barry. The newlyweds had taken off their heavy formal crowns, Leonard having shed his heavy fur over coat and Barry his fur-lined cape, and they had given their swords to the servants to take back to their now shared apartments. Leonard sat with his steely blue, slightly disbelieving eyes trained on the person sitting in the ornate chair next to his.

While he himself had barely touched the plate that had been placed in front of him, beside him Barry was already halfway through polishing off his second plate.

 _" Where the Hell is all of that going Kid?"_ Leonard thought as he stared at his new husband make quick work of a bright red steamed lobster tail.

The light clearing of a throat to his right had Leonard turning his gaze away from his new husband to meet the stern eyes of his little sister. Without saying a word Leonard gave a small roll of his eyes before he nodded and set about eating his meal with interest. It really did taste fantastic, the happy mix of Nevarian and Central Kingdom on his plate. After he had polished off a good portion of his plate, Leonard reached for a nearby goblet that had been filled with rich red wine. Just as his hand had wrapped around the thick, gilded stem, a warm and long fingered hand covered his own. A small gasp had Leonard turning to see that this hand over his was attached to his new husband.

" Uh, sorry." Barry said quietly as he quickly pulled his hand back, feeling completely bare under those intense blue eyes.

Leonard said nothing, instead he picked the goblet up and brought it to his lips, taking a deep drink. Then still in silence and without taking his eyes off of Barry he held the goblet out for his husband to take. Barry felt his face heat up as he wordlessly took the offered goblet and brought it to his lips, the fact that Leonard's eyes were on him like a hawk made his stomach do a few flip-flops. Barry took a few deep sips before he handed the goblet back to Leonard. Leonard took back the goblet and stared at Barry for a few moments more, an unreadably look on his face before he nodded and then turned his attention back to his plate, setting the goblet down.

Barry released the shaky breath he didn't even realize he was holding. Leonard was just so, intense and quietly powerful. As his eyes inevitably drifted to his left hand again, to where the newly placed wedding band glinted softly in the light, Barry was once more struck by the truth, that the quiet and intense man sitting beside him was now his husband. Still a stranger, but his lawfully wedded husband.

Iris and Lisa both shared a smile from where they sat at the high table with the rest of the royals, both having witnessed the subtle yet charged exchange between their respective brothers.

About ten minutes later, the festive dancing in the center of the hall ceased as the royal announcer declared that it was time for the customary first waltz. Leonard kept his face as neutral as possible, while on the inside he was keening in agony. There was a time when he had loved to dance, first with Lisa as his partner, and then with Mick but after his beloved Mick had been torn from him, Leonard had not danced since. Yet another thing he had been dreading this day.

As he and Leonard walked hand in hand, Barry could tell that his husband really and truly did not want to do this. He had wanted to tell Leonard that it was okay, they didn't have to do it, but the older man had risen to his feet and held out his hand. Everyone was watching and Barry just hoped that all of the lessons that had been insisted upon in his youth could still serve him now.

They made their way to the center of the dance floor and took their positions for the waltz. When the soft, melodious music began playing Barry did his best to relax as Leonard took the lead. As they moved together in a circle the rest of the world seemed to melt away. They were both hyperaware of each other. Barry felt a thrill go up his spine as he could feel the solidness of Leonard's muscle beneath the hand he hand on the older man's shoulder, even this small amount of contact was enough for Barry to be aware of the powerful strength that existed beneath the cool and calm demeanor of his husband. As he held Barry with an arm around the young man's narrow waist, Leonard felt a warmth surge through him that he had not felt in five long and lonely years. It made something inside him both swell and bleed for while Barry was here now in his arms, it made Leonard remember the lingering shadow of a tall and broader frame that he had held in his arms for more than a decade. That form was gone forever and now this younger, foreign form was in its place.

As the waltz finally reached its last notes, Leonard did his best to keep with decorum instead of storming out of the great hall entirely. Instead he called upon all of his years of learned control and escorted Barry back to the high table, not really looking at the younger man. They took their seats and held slightly awkward conversation about the other dances they were seeing before them.

Barry did his best not to pry, knowing that the waltz had overwhelmed his husband, causing Leonard to basically shutdown. So when Lisa asked him to join her in dance, he gladly accepted. The Nevarian Princess also scooped up Iris, Eddie, Cisco, Caitlyn, Ronnie, and also Mardon before leading them all onto the dance floor. After she demonstrated the basic steps for the Central Kingdomers, which involved holding hands and dancing in a line, they all joined hands and incorporated themselves into the large line that was already going at it.

Leonard sat and watched, feeling himself calm down a bit from everything the waltz had dredged up and found his eyes immediately seeking out Barry. As he watched his new husband dancing in the line, laughing brightly and looking like a vision straight out of a dream, Leonard could not help but feel something inside him lurch painfully.

As he sat there Leonard could not help but once again feel like none of this was anything he deserved, not the lavish ceremony, the grand reception, all the people both family and subject alike who were now surrounding him, but most of all not the gorgeous young man currently dancing and enjoying himself, the young man he had married on this day. Also as he sat there, Leonard felt that cold block of anxiety inside him that had been there since morning suddenly grow in size as it dawned on him that in a few hours, the last tendrils of daylight would disappear with the sun beneath the horizon and it would be dark. A single thought crashed through Leonard's rapidly short-circuiting brain.

 _" Shit, we're gonna have to consummate this thing!"_

Again could the ground please open wide and swallow him up?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Author's note: While reading this chapter please try listening to "The Last Man" from the soundtrack to the movie " The Fountain".

Chapter 4

Barry picked lightly at a loose thread on the cuff of the simple robe of dark green silk he was wearing over a billowy loose white sleeping shirt. It had felt pretty good to finally take off all of his wedding garments and refinery and put on a simple sleeping shirt and loose black sleeping pants as well after having spent a good chunk of the night enjoying good food and wine, and basically dancing his feet almost clean off.

About half an hour earlier, when the clock had just struck one o'clock in the morning, Leonard and Barry had finally taken their leave of the grand dining hall to retire for the night. They had said their goodbyes to friends and family amidst the resounding cheers and applause of the other guests in attendance before Barry had left with Cisco ever by his side and Leonard with Ronnie by his.

The walk together had been made in complete silence, one look at Leonard's face had made it abundantly clear that he had been in no mood for small-talk. His striking blue eyes may as well have been hewn from a glacier they had become so cold and unhappy.

When the four of them had reached the start of the royal apartments, after they had made their way across the lavish living room areas, Leonard had gone off to change without so much as a word or glance at Barry with Ronnie all but running after him as the King of Nevar disappeared through the door to the private suit that stood to the right of the main bedroom they would be sharing.

Barry had swallowed down the wave of hurt this caused and instead made his way to the suite that stood on the left side of the main bedroom. Once there he had all but collapsed into a nearby chair and allowed himself a small respite for he literally was dead on his feet, having just about danced them off to appease both of his sisters. He had once thought that no one could let loose and party like Iris, now Lisa Snart was in the picture. They had proved to be a lethal combination as Barry had found himself double teamed into showing off some of his own moves.

Once he had regained some painful feeling back in his legs and had made Cisco wait patiently enough, Barry had gotten back up and begun divesting himself of his wedding attire. He had carefully taken off each piece of jewelry starting with stunning ornate chain with the combined emblem, making sure to place it in his box where the smaller version and the white ceremonial already rested. Cisco had quickly taken the box away and retrieved another box, holding it open so that Barry could place the golden chain with the Central Kingdom emblem inside. Barry had then taken off his now totally empty sword belt before he had set to work divesting himself of his wedding garments. There were more buttons than he cared for but Barry patiently undid them all before he pulled off the tight Tudor jacket, leaving him in his under shirt. He handed the jacket off to Cisco then sat sown and pulled off his boots before handing those off as well. Once he had been in this state of undress Barry had ducked behind the screen and taken off the everything that remained, Cisco standing by to take each garment as Barry had handed them off.

When he emerged from behind the screen he was dressed in the attire he now had on as he awaited his husband in the main bedroom.

The room itself was magnificent and spacious despite now being dimly lit by only the moonlight that streamed in through the arched glass windows that provided a breathtaking view of the snow capped mountain range that loomed behind the Nevarian Palace.

Barry himself was sitting over the side of a luxurious kingsized canopy bed with intricate carvings swirling up each of the four posters of the bed. Curtains of rich dark blue satin were draped from the top of the bed and tied to the posters. Any other time Barry would have been entrenching himself into the cloud soft mattress beneath him and wrapped himself up up the crisp clean sheets. Now though, he sat waiting nervously for the arrival of the person he was supposed to share this bed, this room, and most importantly this life with.

After a few more minutes of waiting, a restless Barry then rose to his feet and walked over to one of the large arched windows. He let his hazel green eyes take in the sight of the mountains outside, while the moonlight that was streaming in bathed him in a cool, blueish light. A soft smile turned up the corners of Barry's lips, because the view was awe-inspiring and unlike anything he had ever seen back home in Central Kingdom. The landscape of his homeland was flatter greener, with lush fields. These very same mountains were but a far off shadow in the distance. Now Barry had the very best view of them.

Barry was so engrossed in taking in the view that he very nearly startled when a deep, velvety voice spoke behind him.

" Bartholomew?"

Barry whirled around with small gasp, his surprised eyes falling on Leonard, who had somehow entered the room and come to stand a few feet behind him all without making a sound. The Nevarian King's face took on an apologetic look as he closed some of the distance between himself and his young husband, although he did not physically reach out and he spoke.

Dressed similarly to Barry, a loose gray sleeping shirt and matching pants over which he wore a plain robe of black silk, Leonard was no less striking to the eyes as Barry observed despite his startled state.

" Forgive me, I didn't mean to alarm you."

Barry quickly calmed down and shook his head, and sheepish little smile spreading across his lips.

" No, no it's alright, I should've been paying attention instead of taking in the view. I didn't even hear you walk in." Barry said as he reached up and nervously rubbed the back of his head.

" I am sorry." He added.

" Don't be, it really is a good view." Leonard assured with the barest hint of a smile. The bare hint quickly disappeared though and smoothed out into a neutral expression.

A charged, slightly awkward silence descended over the newlyweds. As he looked more closely at Leonard, Barry felt his heart give a slight lurch at what he noticed. Even in the moonlight Barry could see that Leonard was silently exhausted. The shadows plaid across his face and he looked worn out, but it was the older man's striking eyes that were most telling.

They were slightly puffy and looked irritated. It did not take Barry long to put two and two together and realize that Leonard had been crying, most likely in the interval where they had separated to finally free themselves of the royal garments. It was probably one of the reasons why Leonard had wordlessly ducked away to his private suite so fast without even looking in Barry's direction.

" Are you okay?" Barry asked quietly as he took a hesitant step towards his husband.

Leonard's eyes widened a bit at the question. He was about to assure Barry that yes, he was, but then Leonard thought better of it. Taking deep breath Leonard stepped forward himself, closing the remaining distance so that he and Barry was just about an arm's length apart as he shook his head, his tired eyes hardening into to orbs of ice as he spoke.

" No, I am not alright. Honestly I haven't been alright for years, but especially these last three months, when I found out this Prince from a kingdom hundreds of miles away, a total stranger, agreed to marry me without having ever met me after my advisors basically strong armed me into agreeing to send out a marriage proposal to Central Kingdom. In addition, this acceptance of said proposal comes right after I simply sent my General over with some medicine to help save the unknown Prince's sister who had fallen deathly ill. With all of this in mind, you will forgive me if its got me wondering, just what the hell is going on here and what kind of game do you think you're playing Bartholomew Allen?"

Barry did his best not to flinch at the the sharp and frigid tone of Leonard's voice, feeling every cold and mistrustful word slice through him like the sharpest knife. Lisa had warned him that Leonard might do something like this, question his intentions and the entire situation that had led up to their joining now that they were well and truly alone with each other. The fantasy of their wedding ceremony had faded completely, leaving only this cold, hard reality. Barry did his very best to school his feature and meet Leonard's hard, suspicious gaze as he let out a small breath and spoke.

" I am not playing any kind of game with you Leonard." Barry began softly only for Leonard to cut him off with a snort.

" Then what the hell _are_ you doing Kid? Because there is no way in hell that a sane person would agree to what you've agreed to Bartholomew. I have almost twenty years on you and enough baggage to cover anything you've experienced in your life in spades, so why? Please just explain to me why you went through with this." It would have been nicer if Leonard had started yelling, but instead he kept that same flat and cold tone as he crossed his arms and waited. Barry took a steadying breath and spoke.

" Look, I am always going to be grateful for what you did for my family, you saved my sister's life but it wasn't that that made me agree to be with you, what made me say yes was the reason why you sent Mark with the medicine in the first place. He told us about what you went through when you lost Mick." Here Barry watched as Leonard's frigid fascade crumbled at the mere mention of his late first husband before he quickly hardened his expression once more. Barry took another rattling breath before he continued.

" Mark told us what you told him, that you sent him because you would spare anyone from what you went through. You're right, it is insane, but I knew in that moment that you were the man I wanted to call my husband, because in that moment I saw your heart and that was all I needed." Barry finished as his eyes began to burn.

Leonard's cold expression had turned into a look of silent disbelief, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape. But he snapped rout of his stupor quickly, his expression turning into a scowl as he spoke flatly

" Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" He asked.

" It's the truth." Barry replied firmly, meeting Leonard's hard gaze with his own eyes hardening.

There was a beat of charged silence before Leonard finally looked away, a muted anger taking over his face as he spoke.

" Well I am not touching you tonight Bartholomew."

Though he looked angry and stubborn, on the inside Leonard was writhing in fresh agony, because there was a part of him that just wanted to run across the room and take the young man standing in from of him into his arms, to hold him and feel him, to give in to the new and terrifyingly exciting desires Barry sparked within him. But most of him just wanted to curl up and die right then and there, to just become numb to it all.

Leonard gritted his teeth and watched as all Barry did was nod mutely, as if he were expecting such instead of demanding a proper wedding night as was his right. It only served to infuriate Leonard further. He didn't want understanding, he just wanted Barry to get angry, to tell him to his face just how badly he screwed up the young man whole life, to give voice to everything Leonard felt he had already done to the poor kid by screwing up his future for God's sake. Instead Barry looked okay, sad, but okay, which in turn made Leonard feel even worse about how harshly he was acting towards the younger man. After another long beat of awkward silence, Barry spoke, his tone hesitant.

" I could go sleep on the couch instead, if that's what you want." He said quietly.

That was the last thing Leonard wanted to hear out of Barry's mouth, and if he could have tossed himself out the nearest window he would have. Instead, veiling his shame and guilt under muted anger Leonard simply shook his head as he spoke.

" You stay on your side, I stay on mine, then we won't have a problem Kid." He said coldly. Then without waiting for a response from his new husband Leonard turned away and made his way over to the canopy bed and picked a side. As he stood with his back to Barry and jerkily took off the silk robe he was wearing, Leonard heard the barely there rustle of cloth and the shuffle of bare feet over carpet. When he looked over his shoulder he watched as Barry took of his own robe, lightly tossing it over a nearby chair before making his way to the other side of the canopy bed.

Without really looking at each other, the pair climbed in, the bed being kingsized leaving a yawning gape between them as Barry lay on the left side and Leonard the right. The awkward silence that surrounded them was heavy. Feeling mad at himself and the world for his situation, Leonard then turned over onto his side facing away from Barry and settling into the soft mattress and pillows beneath his head. His heart was still pounding and his skin felt like it was fire both from anger and from shame, but he was still hyperaware of his new bedmate.

Leonard held himself stiffly, and stiffened further when a few moments later the other side of the bed shifted as Barry moved. Leonard assumed that Barry had trend over to face the opposite direction as well, so he barely bit back a gasp when he felt a warm, long fingered hand come to gently grip his shoulder. He quickly stiffened and was about to turn over and unleash Hell on Barry for having the audacity to touch him when Barry's softly spoken words stopped him cold.

" It's gonna to be okay Leonard."

In an instant the anger and frustration inside Leonard was gone, instead a feeling of overwhelming guilt and longing washed over the older man. Leonard had to screw his eyes tightly shut against the fiery burning that rose up behind his eyeballs and take a deep breath in an effort not to just start screaming right then and there. From where he lay with his hand outstretched and gripping his husband's shoulder Barry stayed silent but his own eyes were shining over-bright in the dim light. Leonard let out a slow, shaky breath before he forced himself to speak, thanking the universe that his voice was more or less steady.

" We've had a very long day kid, we really should sleep." He said, all the while feeling his eyes well up further.

" Y-Yeah." Barry agreed, his voice almost a whisper before he gave Leonard's shoulder a firm squeeze and then let go.

Leonard instantly felt the cold void where Barry's hand had been, and part of him wanted to beg Barry to just hold him, to tell the young man that he didn't mean to be such an ass a few minutes earlier. Instead Leonard stayed stubbornly silent as he felt Barry finally shift and turn the other way. It was only then that he allowed his face to crumble and finally let the tears fall silently from his eyes.

From where he lay Barry was fighting tooth and nail with himself not to just turn back around and pull Leonard to him and comfort the man, because he knew that Leonard was crying silently, he just knew. As a few tears leaked out of the corners of his own eyes, Barry felt his heart break, not for himself but for the man he married, because it really and truly did kill him to see someone he cared about hurting so deeply; because even though they were strangers and the walls were up high between them, Barry did care about Leonard. Maybe he cared so deeply that maybe, just maybe a part of him was already deeply, and irrevocably in love with steely blue eyed king.

But as the exhaustion of the very busy day they had experienced together began to settle over both men, all such thought fled them both as they welcomed the oblivion that sleep would provide them.

 _A few hours later, as soft white sunlight just started slowly streaming in through the arched windows..._

Steely blue eyes slowly fluttered open as the last tendril of sleep faded and awareness of the world returned. With a light groan Leonard sat up and stretched, pressing his back against the headboard and groaning further as his back popped and his muscles expanded. But as he let out a small yawn and scratched the back of his head, everything from the day before came rushing back.

Yesterday he had gotten married to one Bartholomew Henry Allen, Prince of Central Kingdom. The same Bartholomew Henry Allen who was sharing his bed last night despite them having hit the proverbial brick wall and not consummated their marriage.

But when his eyes turned to take a look at said bedmate/husband, Leonard felt a jolt go through him as all his eyes were met with was the empty half of the bed with the sheets already neatly made.

" What the hell?" Leonard said under his breath as his brown creased with confusion.

Not even married a full day and the Kid had given him the slip. Feeling a small smirk curling up the corner of his lip despite himself Leonard quickly got out of bed and headed over to one of the two large dressers that stood on opposite sides of the room. He fished out a simple pair of cotton trousers and donned then before getting out some simply slippers and picking up his robe from where he had discarded it the night before. Once he had everything on he headed for the doors that led out to the living area in search of his missing spouse.

But just as he threw the doors open Leonard found himself face to face with one Cisco Ramon, well about as face to face as he could get with someone about a half a foot shorter than him. The young man was immaculately dressed in a dark bronze Tudor jacket and black leather trouser with the simple braided chain barring the Central Kingdom emblem.

" Good morning Your Majesty." Cisco greeted with a warm smile.

" Morning back Cisco, even though it's barely light out." Leonard replied deadpan. Before he could continue and ask the Page where a certain Prince had run off to, Cisco beat him to the punch.

" His Highness has gone down to the training grounds as per his usual morning routine. He advised me to tell you his whereabouts incase you woke up before he got back." Cisco explained, before a mischievous glint filled the young man's dark eyes.

"Well you indeed woke up and here we are." He added cheekily with a wide grin.

" Cute." Leonard drawled, a half smile curling up the corners of his lips despite himself.

Though he wouldn't admit it out loud he did like Cisco, but they would be having words sooner or later if the many times Leonard had caught the way Cisco had been staring at Lisa was anything to go by.

" The training grounds you said?" Leonard then asked in confirmation.

" Yes your Majesty, his highness the Prince has always been an early riser and he's been keeping up with his sword training. It's part of his morning routine." Cisco replied.

" Well then lead the way." Leonard said with a light gesture.

Cisco nodded and started walking, Leonard following in his wake. Since it was so early and there had been one Hell of a part the the night before the halls were more or less empty save for a few night guards who had not yet switched out with the morning rotation. Leonard and Cisco walked in amiable silence, the younger man already walking through the halls of the palace with a familiarity after having only been in Nevar for a week.

They descended down a few flights of stairs before reaching just a couple of floors up from the ground floor where the training grounds were located. As the King and the Page walked along the higher corridor that was adjacent to the training grounds, the sounds of metal on metal and low grunts caught Leonard's ears. He walk dup to the open thick stone railing that overlooked the training ground below and found his heart literally stopping for a moment at the sight that he beheld.

There with a training sword in his hand, simple leather trousers and boots, and his upper body completely bare against the sharply cold Nevarian morning air was Barry, and across from him stood Nevar's own General Mark Mardon clad in a black sleeveless training shirt that showed off his broader frame as compared to Barry's more lithe physique.

As he leaned against the railing, Leonard found his mouth suddenly going dry at the sight of Barry's bare torso. It was the first time he had ever seen the younger man in such a state of undress, and he couldn't help but feel a bolt of heat go through him. Where Mardon was muscular and larger, Barry's form was streamline and graceful. From where he stood, Leonard could see the limber muscles flexing and coiling beneath Barry's pale flesh, that seemed to almost glow in the slowly approaching morning light. Interestingly enough, Leonard also caught sight of a faded scar running horizontally just below the young man's right pec, it raised Leoanrd's curiosity for sure. But it was Barry's hazel green eyes that had Leonard captivated the most, those same eyes that had been filled with such warmth and compassion, and unfortunately hurt as well the very night before were now filled with a silent fire, the quiet confidence of someone who believed he could face anything that came his way. It was stunning in an of itself. With bated breath Leonard watched as Mardon surged forward with a yell and the sword in his hand swinging.

It also warmed Leonard when he noticed that Barry had not taken off his wedding band even though he was sparring.

Barry for his part stood his ground as the more experience man barreled right at him. Leonard felt his own breath stop as he watched Barry stand there until Mardon was just about on top of him. Then in the blink of an eye, Barry ducked out of the way of the sword and was suddenly behind Mardon, using the flat of his sword to whack the other man across the back.

" Ow damn!" Mardon exclaimed before he was letting out a hearty laugh and turned to face a smug looking Barry.

" Singh wasn't kidding about you Your Highness, you really are wicked fast. That's the third time you got a strike on me. How long have you been training again?" Mardon asked and he tucked his sword under his arm and rubbed at his hand of a second.

" I started sword training when I was eleven, been at it ever since." Barry answered with a bright grin that seemed to light up his whole face.

" Well you keep it up you'll be the fastest swordsmen in all of Nevar." Mardon said with a grin of his own and he and Barry smoothly squared off again.

" Oh I aim to, but it takes more than speed. I am still a work in progress." Barry said as he and Mardon raised their swords in a different stance now.

" Well, if you really want someone to help you with your sword training, his Majesty your husband so happens to be the best swordsmen in all of Nevar." Mardon said with a grunt as Barry jabbed and he easily blocked. Leonard felt an acute spike of guilt lance through him as he watched the sad look the spread across Barry's face at the mention of him before the young prince blocked the oncoming jab from Mardon.

" I doubt his majesty would take me up on such an offer." Barry said flatly before he surged forward with a series of graceful attacks.

Mardon with his experience was able to block and dodge the attacks. It was like a crude dance between the two fighters. Mardon found his heart going out to his new Prince Consort. As they continued to practice the moves and lightly clash swords Mardon spoke.

" Do not be so quick to doubt your Highness, even I who is woefully single can say that marriage is rarely ever smooth sailing, it takes a great deal of effort. You already showed such by agreeing to marrying his Majesty and make Nevar your home. If I know one thing about my king, its that he does not take such efforts lightly."

" But how am I supposed to compete against a memory?" Barry finally blurted out as he and Mardon met with there swords crossed, Barry showing surprising strength against Mardon as he held his sword against the other man's.

" That's the thing your Highness, you aren't supposed to. Michael Edan Rory was Michael Edan Rory, he was our Prince Consort for thirteen years of both good times and bad, he was many things but above all else, he was always himself. Now you are our Prince Consort for sure, but you're still Bartholomew Henry Allen of Central Kingdom." Barry shook his head, causing both Mardon and Leonard from where he was eavesdropping to both frown in confusion.

" Of Nevar. I am Bartholomew Henry Allen of Nevar now. But you can just call me Barry right now though." Barry said with a laugh at the end.

Mark smiled warmly at the young prince he now served, proud to be in the presence of one so young and yet so poised. With a few simple words the young man had declared his loyalty to Nevar, a kingdom he had only officially become co-ruler of mere hours ago if one were to get technical With a chuckle from Mardon he and Barry went back to training with the swords, Barry getting to show off his speed, while Mardon countered with his experience.

From where he stood Leonard found his throat was closing up on him, the many powerful emotions swirling round within him.

 _" What did I do to deserve you Kid?"_ Leonard thought to himself as he hung his head for a moment.

" Your Majesty, are you alright?" Cisco asked in concern as he stood beside the King of Nevar. Leonard took a deep breath and turned his intense eyes to Cisco. Plastering on what he hoped was a reassuring look Leonard nodded.

" I am well Cisco. Listen, I am gonna he'd back up to the royal apartments and get ready for the day. You go on ahead and let Bartholomew know that I'll be waiting for him so we can go down to the morning mean together."

" As you command Your Majesty." Cisco said with a dutiful bow before he headed off down the rest of the hall and turned the corner to disappear down the last flight of stairs that would lead to the training circle down below.

Leonard watched as a few moments later Cisco was walking out into the training circle where Barry and Mark was still sparring. Leonard quickly ducked behind the wall the stone railing disappeared into, furtively glancing around it as he watched Barry trot over to Cisco and greet his friend. He watched as they conversed, but Leonard ducked back behind the wall when Barry looked up, his hazel eyes searching and then growing disappointed. Leonard felt a spark go through him at the look, it made him feel both hopeful and at the same time really really sad to know that even after everything that had happened between them last night, Barry still looked for him, wanted to see his face.

With a sigh, Leonard forced himself away from the wall and headed back up the hallway towards the stairs. Once he reached the royal apartments, he pulled on the bell that would summon the servants and ordered that a hot bath be drawn in the shared bathing chamber. If ever there was anything that could help him relax it was that.

About ten minute later found Leonard reclining in the luxurious white and black marble pool that was a smaller though not quiet exact replica of the grand bathing chamber where Barry, Joe, and Eddie had all taken their baths yesterday. Instead of a rectangular pool, the pool Leonard was now laying in up to his neck in steaming hot water, was shaped like an oval. The water was slightly milky from the bath oils he had asked for, giving of a rich, almost coffee like scent. As he lay there soaking, Leonard couldn't help but remember that scent that had come off of Barry when they had shared their first kiss as husbands. It had been unlike anything he had ever smelled before, and now he would forever associate it with Barry.

Leonard allowed himself a chuckle at that, he was so captivated by Barry he even wanted to take his scent. With a snort and a shake of his head, Leonard instead focused on relaxing in his bath and tuning out the rest of the world as the morning sunlight streamed into the room and illuminated the gorgeous white marble. As he bathed, Leonard failed to notice that the door to the bathroom had been left unlocked.

 _About ten minutes later..._

A slightly breathless Barry walked into the royal apartments having worked up a good sweat from his morning sparring session with Mark Mardon. The two had parted ways amicably before Barry had gone bounding up the stares, Cisco following behind him. On the way up Barry had instructed Cisco on what he wanted to wear to breakfast. While Barry headed for the doors to the bathroom area, Cisco had gone off to the main bedroom area where the large armoires were to pull out the articles of clothing Barry had described and place them in Barry's changing suite so that they would be ready for him once he was done with a quick bath.

Barry was undoing the buttons of his pants as he shouldered the door to the bathroom open but when he looked up he found himself coming to a dead halt. Barry's hazel eyes grew impossibly wide as he met the deep blue eyes of his new husband.

His stark naked husband who was so happened to be in the process of climbing the steps out of the oval bathing pool.

Leonard was looking at Barry over his shoulder, his chiseled back and equally well-shaped backside on full display. Barry found himself mesmerized, for the many marble statues littered throughout the palace couldn't even hold the barest candle to the living, breathing human being he was beholding. This was a man in his prime, powerful muscles coiling and flexing beneath his pale caramel skin. But as Barry found himself looking more closely, he also noticed the scared, thin and faded, that littered Leonard's back. They were very old, and they had a story behind then, but Barry forgot all about that as his face all but exploded in the fiery heat of mortified embarrassment.

" Oh my God I am so sorry!" Barry yelled as he hastily about faced. Barry just wanted to crawl inside a closet and never come back out again he was so embarrassed, and if he were honest with himself, deeply affected by the sight of Leonard.

Leonard found himself smirking as he watched the back of Barry's neck turn bright red, no doubt his face was taking on the same hue. Unperturbed that his young spouse had just gotten a good look at him while he was nude, Leonard climbed up the remaining steps and smoothly crapped up a fluffy white towel from the stack that had been provided. Once he had wrapped it around his waist he finally spoke.

" Relax Kid, no harm done. Just call the servants to draw you a fresh bath and be quick, we don't want to keep the rest of the family waiting." With that a smirking Leonard casually walked past Barry out into the living room area, giving Barry another good look at his back before he disappeared through the door to his changing suite on the right.

Barry just stood there in utter shock for a few seconds before he quickly composed himself enough to pull the rope to ring the bell that would summon the servants. While they were coming Barry ducked inside the bathroom and changed out of his pants as he had been doing before his encounter with Leonard, wrapping a fluffy white towel around his waist and waiting in a corner while the servants drained the water and refilled the tub. In that span of time all Barry could think about was just how absolutely gorgeous a man Leonard was. It also left him wondering just how that body would feel against his own, but Barry quickly quash those thoughts. Once the bath was refilled the servants stood once more with the trays of various soaps and oils.

Feeling calmer now, but with Leonard still dominating his thoughts, Barry once again picked out the two Nevarian soaps and the spearmint oil to be mixed into his bathwater before he dismissed the servants and climbed in. As he took his bath, Barry kind of wished he had asked for cold water instead of hot.

About twenty minute later Barry was hastily doing up the buttons to the cream and gold striped tudor jacket he had chosen to wear. He already had on dark brown leather trousers with sleek knee-lenth boots. The end of the jacket fell just above the knee and lent a streamlined look. Barry opted to forgo any of his capes or long sleeveless over coats lined with fur. Instead he decided to keep things simple since it really was breakfast with the family. On the pinky of his right hand was his mother ruby engagement ring glittering softly in the daylight.

" Hey Cisco could you get me the jewelry box with by wedding gifts from his Majesty?"

" Sure thing." Cisco said with a nod before he went and retrieved said box.

Barry smiled and pushed the lid back, taking moment to admire the exquisite chain with the combined emblem of Central Kingdom and Nevar that he had worn during yesterday's ceremony, along with the gleaming white ceremonial dagger with the roaring lion-head pommel before he reached in and picked up the third item the box contained, the smaller version of the ornate wedding chain. With a little bit of reverence Barry carefully put the chain on, making sure the combined emblem fell gracefully in the center in alignment with the seam of his jacket. After a quick once over in the nearby standing mirror, Barry ran a hand through his hair before he nodded to Cisco.

Together the two headed out of the changing suite. Out in the lavishly furnished living room Leonard was waiting.

It took everything Barry had not to gawk, because while a nude Leonard had been a sight to behold, Leonard dressed in all his royal refinement brought its own brand of pleasure. Leonard was regal in a blueish-steel gray colored Tudor jacket that fell just above his knees that really brought out the color of his striking eyes. The long sleeve had a silvery, swirling brocade design. The top part of the jacket was pleated close together with small metal accents that lent an amor-like quality to the garment. Over this Leonard had on a medium length sleeveless over jacket of the same bluish-steel gray, and it was lined with a luscious looking pale gray fur.

Barry found himself fighting back a blush as Leonard silently wracked his eyes over him as he came near, giving the barest nod of his head in approval.

" You ready for our sisters to swarm us?" Barry asked in an effort to lighten things up as he and Leonard made there way out of the royal apartments with Cisco followed a pace behind.

" Ready as I'll ever be Kid." Leonard said simply as he and Barry walked side by side down the sunlit hallway.

A few minutes later, the newlyweds were indeed swarmed by Lisa and Iris, Eddie subtly joining in while Joe, Martin Stein, and Harrison Wells all looked on with indulgent smiles on their faces. Breakfast was filled with warmth and laughter, but Leonard himself remained reserved as ever, the smiling not really reaching his eyes as he and Barry sat next to each other and partook in the morning meal.

A whole week passed by this way, under the euphoria of the royal wedding. But all too soon the real world came knocking. On a bright Friday morning Barry stood before the great doors of the Nevarian Palace with Leonard and Lisa flanking him as they we set to big farewell to Joe, Iris, and Eddie. The royal carriage that had brought Barry to Nevar was now ready and waiting to return to Central Kingdom, but it would do so without him.

The parting was bitterly gut-wrenching. Iris and Eddie were inconsolable as they kept hugging Barry and making him promise to write them. Joe had seized Barry in a tight bear hug and not let go for a good long while, Barry clinging to him just as hard. Lisa didn't bother to hide her tears as she watched Barry say goodbye to his beloved family. A white handkerchief materializing in her line of sight had her turning to see and red-eyed Cisco holding it out to her. Sending him a grateful look Lisa accepted the offered cloth and used it to wipe at the salt that clung to her lashes.

From where he stood a few feet from Barry, currently getting squeezed soundly by Iris now that Eddie had finally let go of him, Leonard hugged his sister-in-law back tightly but his eyes remained fixed on Barry. Leonard's own eyes were burning and shining slightly as he watched Barry and Joe embrace. Yet again his self-loathing swirled up inside him, telling him that it was his fault, that he was the one responsible for taking a beloved son away from his father. He knew this wasn't rational thinking, that Barry had come to Nevar and married him willingly, but it was of very little comfort. Leonard couldn't help but also feel the barest pang of jealously as he watched Joe tearfully place kisses into Barry's hair.

If only he and Lisa had had someone like Joe as a father. But Leonard quickly shook himself of those thoughts as Barry and Joe finally pried themselves away from each other and Joe beckoned him forward. He also beckoned Lisa forward too before he swept them both into his arms.

" I ask you not as a king but as a father, just take care of my son. He may have adopted this kingdom as his own but he doesn't know it yet, he needs you. Especially you Leonard."

" Yes sir." Leonard said against Joe's shoulder softly while Lisa sobbed fully and answered.

" He's my new brother, I'll have his back always."

" Thank you both, just thank you." Joe said tearfully.

A few moments later, after several more lingering hugs and well wishes, Barry stood before the grand doors of the Nevarian Palace, waving at the departing carriage that contained his family, with tears gushing from his eyes. Lisa was holding one of his arms, while Leonard stood beside them with a hand on his back.

As he watched the royal procession slowly disappear through the great gates of the castle, Barry realized that besides Cisco he was well and truly fending for himself here in Nevar, the Winter Kingdom.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Author's note: I am making Eobard Thawne related to Barry instead of Eddie for plot purposes. So it's Eobard Allen instead of Thawne.

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Chapter 5

" I am so sorry Barry." Lisa said as she gazed apologetically at her brother-in-law.

From where he sat across from her, Barry just smiled at her wanly and shook his head.

" No Sis, it's fine, I know he's been really busy with the new trade agreements with Starling Kingdom and everything. It's fine, really."

The two royals were currently sitting at a round table by one of the arched windows in the living room area of the royal apartments. As he sat there Barry found his eyes drifting to the exquisite ring that adorned his left ring finger. The ring, with its braid if gold and platinum encased in the Nevarian ice glass as Barry found out it was called, and the small diamonds inlaid around it all sparkled lustrously in the light.

Hard to believe that it had been a whole month since he and Leonard had been wed. In all that time many things had changed and been experienced. Barry had immersed himself in learning about the Nevarian culture and what his royal duties as Prince Consort would entail. After all of the fan fair with the wedding had died down Barry had gotten straight to work. In addition to weapons training with Mark Mardon, Barry had resumed his education in the Healing Arts with Lord Harrison Wells, who along with being Leonard's Chief Advisor, was also the head Healer in charge of the medical wing of the palace. Harrison was great, always so warm and so inclusive that in addition to taking on Barry as a student, he had taken Cisco under his wing as well.

Since Lisa would always want to hang out with Barry, the young Prince soon found himself becoming fast friends with Caitlyn Snow and her husband Ronnie. Along with this core group of friends, Barry had also somehow managed to endear himself to the entire Nevarian court. There had been a concern that Barry was too young, to inexperience when it came to co-ruling an entire kingdom that he had only recently married into, but Barry had yet again surprised everyone with his level-headedness and fair hand. He was always respectful to Leonard's senior advisors, always lent his ear when a subject came forth with either a complaint or a request, and just seemed so poised beyond his twenty-five years.

However, for all the ways that Barry was well-recieved by the Nevarian court, there were still those either jealous or not knowing any better who whispered behind his back and said all manner of hurtful, untrue things. Barry did hi best to ignore such gossip and focus instead on his duties as Prince Consort.

But while Barry went through these changes, there was one very important thing that had unfortunately remained the same. The distance between him and Leonard had not abated in the days since they had married, the wall was still there, glacially cold and unyielding. Sure, they had grown a little less awkward around each other but Leonard was still distrusting of Barry's reasons, and Barry was doing his best to get out from under the long shadow that had been cast by his predecessor, Mick Rory.

Even today, Barry had asked Cisco to give Leonard a message, asking the King to come and join him and Lisa for a light lunch up in the royal apartments. Lisa had arrived and shared a smile with Cisco as the Page had gone off to deliver the message. A few minutes later an apologetic looking Cisco returned informing both Barry and Lisa that Leonard had declined.

It wasn't anything new for Barry, just another instance of Leonard giving him the cold shoulder.

While Nevar had slowly but surely warmed up to Barry, things with Leonard had gone the complete opposite way and gotten more frosty. Sure, they were civil enough towards each other, and even shared a few jovial moments when they were with other people, because Lisa was a riot to be around and Caitlyn and Ronnie were just the sweetest couple, the moment that he and Leonard were alone it was like the shutters would come down and Barry would find himself dealing with either cold silence, or biting sarcasm.

Barry quickly shook himself of his musings and focused on Lisa, the two of them starting up easy conversation. In addition to being a Princess, Lisa was also the overseer of the Nevarian jewelry makers guild. Once one asked her about it, it was like opening the floodgates. Barry quickly found his melancholy over his sad, non-existent relationship with his husband fading to the background as he listened intently while Lisa proudly regaled him with her recounts of some of the big commissions the guild had completed for both Nevarian and other kingdom nobles alike.

A few minutes later the food arrived, and he, Lisa, and Cisco got to enjoying it. But as she watched her brother-in-law warmly conversing with Cisco as he ate, Lisa felt a jolt of white hot anger and annoyance go through her, and it was all aimed at a certain older brother of hers.

Lisa and Leonard would be seeing each other later in the day, and they would have words, this Lisa promised herself.

 _A couple of hours later..._

Leonard bit back the urge to groan out loud as he leaned back the chair he was sitting in. The King of Nevar, dressed in a deep navy blue Tudor jacket with matching leather trousers and knee-length boots, Leonard still cut a striking figure. The look was finished off by a chain of silver oval shaped disks inlaid with oval cut sapphires that met in the middle where a large oval cut sapphire surrounded by glittering white diamond hung. It was simple and regal for an ordinary day of ruling a kingdom.

Leonard was currently sitting behind the large, ornately carved desk in his private study, various papers and scrolls littered all over its surface. The entire day had been tiring with Leonard putting the finishing touches on the newest trade agreement between Nevar and Starling Kingdom. Starling Kingdom's king, who ironically was named Oliver Queen, had dragged his feet and a few numbers for about two weeks before he and Leonard had finally come to an agreement through their correspondence. Now the agreement was set and had Leonard's stamp of approval.

Leonard had been so busy that he hadn't even had lunch yet. At the thought of that, Leonard felt a twinge of regret, for he remembered they Cisco had come in and told him that Barry had asked him to lunch a few hours earlier. Leonard had declined the offer because yes, he had been very busy with Wells and some of the other advisors milling around him, but ask because he was avoiding his young husband yet again.

He knew Barry wanted to spend time with him, that the young man was always reaching out, but Leonard just felt something inside him holding him back, this invisible wall the simply would not come down.

He felt guilty as hell, because Barry didn't deserve to be treated this way, yet at the same time Leonard felt it acutely that getting close to his husband of one month felt like betrayal to his beloved Mick. It was irrational, Leonard knew this, he knew, but he just couldn't shake the feeling. It was easier to simply go about his days and bury himself in work, to basically ignore the fact that there was this gorgeous young man living in this very same palace, wearing the matching ring to the one he now had on his finger, who had chosen to spend the rest of his life with him.

Again the guilt flared up. Leonard knew he was behaving like an ass but he just couldn't help it with the war going on inside him, with half of him wanting to just go down to the royal crypts where Mick's remains were and just sit there on the floor and wait for time to take him, and the other half wanting to find Barry and take him into his arms, feel those perfect lips against his own and bask in the possibility of being.

Unconsciously Leonard's hands went to his lips, the phantom feeling of when he had felt Barry's lips on them a full month ago, after they had taken their vows. It really had been like kissing lightening. It had been different, it had been new, it had even been perfect, but all it had been terrifying too, to feel desire for someone after years of basically being numbed by grief.

Leonard was shaken from his musings when the doors to his study opened and Lisa walked in, dressed in a lovely green long sleeve gown with crushed velvet accents along the sides of the skirt, and baring a tray.

" Hungry hippo?" Lisa asked with a smile as a softly smiling Leonard cleared away some of the papers strewn about his desk ad she set the tray down in front of him.

Leonard found his smile widening with knowing as he stared at what Lisa had brought him. There on a plate was steaming pile of Brussel sprouts, his absolute least favorite thing to eat, ever.

Oh yes, Leonard was in the doghouse and Lisa was letting him know it loud and clear.

When he looked up, Lisa just quirked one perfectly shaped eyebrow at him. Leonard made a showing of handing his head in defeat before he picked up the form and started skewering some sprouts. When he put them in his mouth Leonard was heartened by the fact that they were at least covered in his favorite truffle sauce, which made the eating marginally more tolerable. Once he had had a few fork-fulls Lisa finally spoke.

" You would've enjoyed some real food and good company if you'd stop being such an ass Len." She said with a frown as she sat over the edge of her brother's desk.

Leonard wiped his mouth with the napkin and sat back in his chair with a sigh.

" I've been really busy Sis." He began when Lisa shook her head and cut him off.

" No Len, you've been avoiding Barry as much as possible and using this deal with Starling Kingdom as an excuse." Leonard slightly ashamed look and his silence were confirmation enough.

Lisa sighed in exasperation.

" What are you doing big brother?" Again Len was silent as he shrugged and looked down, suddenly finding his fingers very interesting, looking for all intents and purposes like a petulant kid instead of a forty-three year old King. Len just shrugged.

" Quit being such a jerk Len, remember what I told you what I'd do if you hurt Barry?" Lisa warned. Len finally looked up, defiance in his steely-blue eyes.

" I am not hurting him Lisa." He said, even though he was having a hard time believing his own words. His famous Snart stubbornness was winning out though.

" Yes you are Len, I mean how is anyone supposed to feel when their husband can't be bothered to spend any kind of quality time with them save for the bar minimum?"

Leonard found himself deflating at that.

" Is he mad?" the King asked quietly.

To this he watched as Lisa's stern expression morphed into a sad smile that Leonard always hated seeing on her face as she shook her head as she replied.

" No he's not, Barry never gets mad. He even goes out of his way to make excuses for you. On top of that he still keeps reaching out for you Len."

Leonard felt that inevitable wave of shame watch over him. As he looked up at Lisa, Leonard allowed it to show on his face as he spoke softly.

" I _do_ want to let him in Lisa, I do, But it's so _hard_."

Lisa all but leapt forward, leaning over and wrapping her arms around her brother. Leonard reached up and gripped Lisa's arm as he let out a shuddering breath.

" I feel like I am betraying him Sis. Barry here with me, _he's right here_ and I want get to know him, to let him in so bad but there's just something holding me back, something I can't get past."

" Oh Len, you have to get past it at some point, but that won't happen is you don't even try. You aren't betraying Mick, you're moving on instead of living in the ashes. He'd want you to Len, I know he would."

" But the ashes are all I have Lisa." Len whispered as his eyes began to fill.

" That's not true, you know it's not true. You deserve to be happy again, and I know in my heart that you can be with Barry if you'd just give him a chance. Nobody is asking you to just instantly fall in love with him Len, especially not Barry himself. He just wants to get to know you Len, and that's not asking for much considering everything he gave up to be with you."

" I just don't even know where to start Sis."

" You could start anywhere, I mean I am sure you guys have stuff in common, you'll figure it out okay?" Len tearfully looked up at his sister's quietly pleading eyes and nodded, before he stood up from his seat so that he could hug her properly.

And if he ended up sobbing quietly into her shoulder for a few minutes well, they were the only ones in his study so Leonard could vehemently deny it all later.

 _Meanwhile, in another sprawling wing of the palace..._

" I got a bad feeling about this Barry, I really don't think we're supposed to be in this part of the palace." Cisco said as he nervously followed after Barry.

" C'mon Cisco, where's you sense of adventure, if it were really off limits they would had padlocked the place. There aren't even any guards here so lets just check it out." Barry said with an exhilarated grin.

The young men walked through the thick purple curtains that hung over the large arched doorway that led to the unknown wing of the palace.

As they walked down the corridor, Cisco felt his unease grow. There was something tellingly darker about this part of the palace. Where the rest of the palace had light streaming in and was vibrant with life, people passing through. This place was definitely not as vibrant, it was devoid of anyone, and even the air was cooler. Most of the windows were even covered by similar dark curtains. As they walked, something large and gilded caught Barry's attention.

" Hey Cisco, check that out over there." Barry said as he pointed to the wall up ahead.

The pair made their way down the desolate corridor, noting that what had caught Barry's eye was the gilded edge of a large portrait hanging on the wall ahead, the image the portrait held was obscured by a long gray curtain. For reasons unknown to him, Barry felt his head start to pound loudly in his chest as he and Cisco came to stand before the portrait. Barry's eye were glued to the portrait as he spoke.

" Cisco, please go and pull back the curtain."

Cisco was about to protest, but one look at Barry's face told him to do as he was asked. Swallowing nervously, Cisco walked over to the side of the painting and sought out the long braided rope that was attached to the curtain. Stealing his own nerves, Cisco pulled the rope. The curtain parted in the middle, smoothly falling away to finally reveal the image it was hiding.

Barry felt the breath leave his lungs as his hazel green eyes met the painted dark brown eyes of Michael "Mick" Edan Rory as he was depicted in full royal regalia.

" Oh my God it's him." Barry whispered as he took a step forward and simply stared at the image of his predecessor.

This was the first time he had ever laid eyes on Mick Rory. There was no other portrait of statue to be found anywhere else in the palace. As he looked further Barry couldn't help but admire the rendering. He was handsome, and there was a fiery intensity in those dark brown eyes. His hair had been dark and cropped close to his head, the same way Leonard kept his hair. Barry had a feeling that Leonard had adopted his late husband's hairstyle as a means of honoring him. Barry barely noticed when Cisco came to stand beside and speak.

" So this is Mick Rory. Princess Lisa wasn't kidding, he really was good looking."

Barry felt a sad smile curl up his lips as he nodded his head.

" Yeah, I just can't believe that a fever killed him, he seems so... invincible."

Cisco could only nod his head in agreement. The pair continued to gaze at Mick's stunning portrait before Barry noticed the darker hallway that started a few feet away to the right of the painting.

As he started walking toward it Cisco ran past him and stood in his way.

" Nu-uh Barry, don't go down there man, my bad feeling just got worse. We should head back." Barry shook his head, his famous Allen stubbornness rearing its head as he spoke.

" Then you stay here Cisco and keep a look out. I am gonna go see what's down there." With that Barry easily side stepped Cisco and proceeded down the mysterious hallway.

Cisco watched his best friend and Prince's retreating form, all the while feeling the dread in the pit of his stomach grow as he turned and kept an eye out.

The hallway was moderately long, but at the end of it stood a pair of ornately carved doors, depicting roaring flames around the boarder. Feeling his heart pounding in his chest once more Barry reached for the swirling brass knobs to one of the doors and turned it. Barry inhaled sharply when the knob gave him no resistance, signaling that the door was unlocked. With bated breath Barry lightly pushed and the door swung a way with a soft creaking sound, signaling that it had not been opened in a long while.

Steeling his resolve, Barry stepped over the threshold into the darkened apartments. Light streamed in through slightly dusty-covered windows as Barry found himself walking further into a large living room area still filled with sheet-covered furniture. There before him was a large empty fireplace, but what caught his eye was the ornate gilded picture frame that was hanging over it.

As his eyes fell on the painting this frame held, Barry felt his heart give a painful lurch. There painted together and smiling, were Mick Rory and Leonard dressed in gorgeous finery. Leonard was sitting down, while Mick was standing behind him with a hand on his shoulder.

It was their wedding portrait, Barry realized. Even in the portrait, Rory looked regal, while Leonard looked just about the same, if a little bit younger with longer, black wavy hair, and just so happy, his smile prominent. As he gazed at the painting Barry felt something inside his crumble as with a hitched breath he spoke.

" Well at least I know what you're smile looks like." Barry said to himself as a wave of sadness washed over him.

Barry them turned away from the image and found his eyes wracking over the dark and silent room. There was a thin layer of dust over everything, clear indication of how long it had been since anyone lived in these apartments.

These apartments where Leonard and Mick had once lived together in wedded bliss. As he swallowed back against another wave of emotions, Barry caught sight of another set of doors at one end of the large living room area. Barry quietly made his way over to these doors, similarly decorated to the first set of doors he had entered through, eying the dust covered knobs and wondering whether or not he should try them. Taking in a deep breath, Barry slowly reached out, but instead of reaching for the knobs Barry pressed his left hand over the smooth surface of one of the doors. The wood was cool beneath his palm and as he let out a shaky breath, his wedding ring glittering softly in the dim light.

As he stood there, Barry felt like he could hear a distant echo within the desolate living room. He could almost feel the last remnants of a happy life, could almost smell the least tendrils of sandalwood and cinnamon. But as he focused more on the doors before which he stood, the echoes of happiness gave way to the echoes of desperation and despair. Barry just knew, through some inherent instinct within him, that behind these doors was the bedroom and Leonard and Mick had shared, and that it had been in this same room that Mick had succumbed to that deadly fever. Barry wondered what would happen if he went inside, what kind of empty husk of a once good life would greet him. Would Mick Rory's soul be there to glare at him and call him the bastard usurper, would the echoes of Leonard's wails of agony fill his ears?

But before Barry could think about what to do next, there was suddenly a hand gently wrapping around his left wrist and pulling it away from the door. Barry turned to find concerned steely blue eyes gazing at him.

" What are you doing in here Bartholomew?" Leonard asked quietly as he gently pulled Barry away from the doors to Mick's bedroom. When Leonard had been informed by one of the guards that Barry and Cisco had come into this wing of the palace he had nearly lost it right then and there, he had gotten so angry.

Despite Lisa's protests he had forbidden her to come with him and all but run to the wing he had once shared with Mick. When he had burst past the thick curtains that covered the arched entranceway he had caught sight of Cisco standing by the now unveiled portrait of Mick and demanded to know where Barry was. Cisco had balked under Leonard's stinging glare and pointed down the hallway. He had ordered Cisco to stay where there before he hand barreled off down the hallway.

When Leonard had neared the doors to his and Mick's apartment he was all for just barging in and yelling at the top of his lungs. But just as he had cross the the threshold through the doors that hand been left ajar, he found himself stopping dead in his tracks. It wasn't just the fact that this was the first time he had been inside these apartments in over two year, or the haunting quality to them that had stopped the King of Nevar, it was also the sight of his young husband standing at closed and darkened doors of his and Mick's former bedroom with his hand up and against the door, not moving, not making a sound, and looking completely haunted from just the profile Leonard could see of his face.

Anger had quickly turned into concern because out of everything Leonard had been expecting, finding his new husband looking pale and shell-shocked had not been among those scenarios.

When Barry just let out a shaky breath and turned away instead of saying anything, Leonard let go of Barry's wrist to gently cup the side of Barry's neck and turn the younger man back around.

" Bartholomew?" Leonard asked again more firmly this time. It seemed to snap Barry out of whatever stupor he had gone into.

With a shaky breath Barry instantly looked so painfully apologetic it made something inside Leonard lurch.

" Oh God I'm so sorry Leonard. Me and Cisco we were just walking when we saw the curtains. We were just curious about what was behind it and then we found Mick's portrait out there. It's the first time I've ever seen his face and then I saw the hall and I just came down this way and the doors were open and..." Barry trailed off in his rambling as looked over his shoulder back at the doors to Mick's bedroom before he turned back and faced Leonard.

" Did he die in there Leonard?" Barry asked softly.

Leonard felt his heart freeze inside his chest for a long moment before it started beating again, sending fresh waved of pain from the center of his chest outward as he let out a shuddering breath of his own before he slowly nodded and looking past Barry at the doors himself.

" Yes Bartholomew, m-my Mick died in there."

The next thing he knew Leonard found himself wrapped up in a warm and almost painfully tight hug. He stood there stunned as he realized that Barry was embracing him, it was the first time they were ever sharing an embrace. Letting out a shaky breath Leonard slowly wrapped his arms around his husband and held him back. For the whole month since they had been wed, Leonard had often dreamed about what this would be like, to hold Barry in his arms. Dreams paled against reality. But as healed Barry, Leonard finally notice the barest tremor that was going through the young man. He knew that Barry wasn't crying, but he was shaking. Leonard felt his earlier concern return as he placed his hand against the back of Barry's head.

" Kid what's wrong?" Leonard asked softly into Barry's ear. Barry took a shaky breath before he replied.

" I don't know. Being in here it just... It made me remember that I have rooms just like this back in Central Kingdom." Leonard's brow knitted together in confusion and he wanted to just flat out ask Barry what he meant by his words, instead Leonard realized that they needed to get out of these rooms as quick as possible.

" C'mon Kid, lets get out of here." Leonard said feeling Barry nod against his shoulder before he reluctantly drew away. Hand in hand the pair walked out of the former royal apartments, Leonard closing the doors once he and Barry had stepped through.

Not letting go of Barry's hand, Leonard led them back up the hallway to where Cisco was anxiously waiting. Cisco stepped up to them most likely to ask if they were alright when Leonard shook his head and spoke.

" Don't worry Cisco, we're okay. Barry and I are gonna go head back up to our apartments, I want you to go find my sister and tell her that we're okay, that me and Barry don't want to be disturbed by anything for the rest of the day unless it is an absolute emergency alright?"

Cisco wracked his eyes over Barry wondering why his Prince was looking so quietly wrecked before he remembered that he had just been asked to do something.

" Your will my King." Cisco said with a small bow before he hurried off to go find Princess Lisa and inform her of the situation.

" And tell the kitchens to send up some of the strongest wine we have in stock and leave it for us in the living room." Leonard called, Cisco turned back and nodded before he hurried the rest of the way and disappeared through the dark curtains.

After that Leonard led a reticent Barry back up to their apartments, glad to see that an entire bottle and two silver goblets had been left on the center table as per his instructions. Leonard locked doors securely once he and Barry was inside. As Barry had walked off and collapsed onto one of the plush sofa in front of the fireplace looking worn out and so much older, Leonard quickly uncorked the bottle and liberally filled up the two goblets before he made his way over to the sofa and practically shoved one of them into Barry's hands.

It gladdened Leonard to see Barry's lips curve upward for a fleeting moment at the gesture, but the younger man's face almost immediately grew sad again as he brought the goblet to his lips and drank easily, seemingly not bothered at all by the wine, which was actually really really strong stuff. Leonard took a drink himself, letting the wine warm him before he spoke.

" What did you mean just now about you have rooms just like the ones we were just in?" He asked.

Sad hazel eyes met his own as Barry sighed and spoke.

" What I mean is that, back in the palace where I grew up, there are a set of apartments that are cordoned off too. No has lived in them for sixteen years. People only go in to clean them, that's all. Those rooms represent the same thing that your rooms that you shared with Mick do."

" What's that Kid?" Leonard asked carefully.

" Those rooms are your old life, what's left of everything you knew and loved before it was ripped away from you." Barry replied, sending a jolt through Leonard because his words were deadly accurate.

There was a beat of silence before Barry turned to Leonard and looked at him intensely enough to give Leonard are run for his money when it came to soul searing as he spoke.

" How much do you know about my parents?" Barry asked.

The simply question had Leonard fighting the urge to hide his head as he shook his head and answered, feeling ashamed.

" I only know that their names were Henry and Nora, that they were the King and Queen of Central Kingdom, and that you lost them at a young age and were raised by his Majesty King West. I am sorry Kid."

Barry just smiled wanly and gave a shake of his own head.

" Don't be, I don't know a thing about you and Lisa's parents either other than maybe your dad's name was either Lewis or Richard."

" Lewis." Leonard answered quickly, earning a small chuckle from Barry before the younger man quickly sobered. Leonard then watched as Barry took a large gulp of wine before setting the goblet down on a nearby table and rising to his feet. Before Leonard could ask, Barry was undoing the buttons of the dark brown Tudor jacket. Leonard found his mouth going a bit dry at the sight despite the seriousness of the situation, but he quickly got his mind out of the gutter when Barry held the jacket open, exposing his chest to Leonard.

Leonard's eyes roamed over what he could see of Barry's graceful form, before inevitably settling on the jagged looking, faded scar just below Barry's right pectoral. Leonard looked back up to meet Barry's gaze, a look of silent askance on his face while a storm seemed to be brewing behind Barry's hazel green depths as he spoke.

(Author's note: Please try listening to " Anne and Henry Conceive a Son." from the soundtrack to the TV show, " The Tudors" season 2 when reading this part).

" I got this scar the night my whole world was ripped apart, the night my parents were murdered in front of me. I was nine years old."

Leonard felt like someone had literally yanked the world out from under him as he stared open-mouthed at Barry. Barry pulled his jacket closed and half-hazardly did up a few buttons before he sat back down beside Leonard of the sofa, leaning his elbows against his knees and staring at the flames that were quietly crackling in the fireplace as he spoke and began recounting the tale of the worst moment of his whole life.

" It was late that night, I was sleeping when a loud noise woke me up. I got scared so I ran out of my room to go see what was wrong, that's when I heard my mother's scream coming from my parents' bedroom."

It was here that Barry paused for a moment as the memories played out in his mind. Then with a steadying breath Barry resumed his recounting.

" The doors were opened so I just ran right in, and that was when I saw my father bleeding out on the floor by the bed, my mother was holding him. He'd been gutted. That was when I saw the tall blond man who was standing over my parents with a bloody in his hand. He was _smiling_. I recognized him from the few times I had been allowed to attend court with my mother. It was my uncle Eobard, my father's own brother. As I stood there my father called out to me with his dying breath, both my mom and Eobard turned their attention to me. My mom let go of my dad and ran to me, taking me into her arms. Just as she had picked me up she scream and let go of me, I felt this fiery pain on the right side of my chest as I fell to the floor. The bastard had come up behind my mom and run her straight through the heart. I should had been skewered too since she had been holding me to her chest right where the sword came out but she let go of me, so the tip just caught me. I was crawling backward on the floor as he came towards me with his sword dripping in my parents' blood. He looked down at me with a satisfied smirk on his face as he spoke to me."

At this point silent tears were streaming down Barry's face, Leonard was no better beside him as he sat horrified by what his husband had revealed to him. Swallowing past the lump that had formed in his throat Leonard spoke.

" What did... What did he say?"

" He said, 'looks like you won't be getting the keys to the kingdom dear sweet nephew'. He was so delusional he thought that after what he had done, he'd become king. But just as he was about to... k-kill me too, Joe was there along with a whole bunch of other guards. Joe he, he fought Eobard off, ended up chopping one of the bastard's hands clean off before he left him for the rest of the guards and tended to me. I was barely conscious but I still remember how scared he looked and how he had picked me up and ran the healers as fast as he could. I was lucky, the blade hadn't hit any of my major organs, it had broken several ribs though. Eddie's mom is the Chief Healer back in Central Kingdom. She took care of my wounds, and the fever that followed. I was so out of it that I had to stay in the healing rooms for weeks. They only let me out for my parents funeral and even then I don't remember much, just they I kept asking everyone why my mom and dad wouldn't wake up and why they were being put inside a wall. No one would really answer me."

Barry paused here for a moment to pick up the goblet he had set down, bringing it to his lips and draining what remained of the wine in one long gulp. He set the empty goblet back down before he let out a deep sigh.

" Eobard was tried for what he did and executed by beheading as I found out when I got older. Joe became King as per my father's wishes and he raised me like I was his own son. I was not want for anything, I gained Iris and Eddie as siblings as we all grew up together. I learned to keep going, to smile again and I can say that I haven't let the darkness of what happened consume me. I am here, I live."

" Why didn't you tell me all of this sooner Kid?" Leonard asked, though there was no heat behind his words as he drained his on goblet and set is down on the floor by his feet as he sat forward, copying Barry's position of resting his forearms on his knees.

" Why didn't you take the time to get to know me and ask?" Barry countered smoothly without looking away from the flames in the fireplace.

Leonard let out a small, water huff before he scooted closer to Barry on the sofa, so that their knees were touching.

" Yeah, you got me there Kid. I am sorry I've been such an ass."

" As you should be." Barry drawled with a small smile curving up the corners of his lips while Leonard chuckled at the heatless rebuke.

Then with a sigh Leonard reached up and wiped at the salt that clung to his cheeks before he reached out and took Barry's right hand into his own. He held it gently between both his hands before he slowly brought it upwards, giving Barry ample time to pull away if he wanted. Barry did no such thing as he allowed Leonard to press his lips to the back of his hand.

Barry turned his still tearful eyes away from the fire to gaze at his husband, who met his gaze head on. Leonard smiled quietly at his husband, Barry smiling back too, secretly thrilled despite how emotionally drained he was at seeing Leonard smile at him for real.

" We're a really strange pair aren't we Barry Allen." Leonard said softly, finally calling Barry by his preference. Barry's smile turned into a full smile as he nodded.

" Yeah Leonard Snart, we really are."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Author's note: Please try listening to " Jane washes her hair" from the soundtrack to The Tudors Season 3.

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Chapter 6

Lisa Snart, Princess of Nevar resisted the urge to grin as brightly as possible, tempering it to a warm, thoughtful smile as she stood at one of the stone railings overlooking the training grounds. The reasons for her quiet joy were currently standing in the center of the ring.

There down below in the training ring were Barry and Leonard, both with training swords in their hands, wearing light clothing over which was sturdy leather chest plates and gauntlets around their forearms, and a practice dummy standing a few feet away.

Barry was listening intently, his eyes never leaving his husband as Leonard demonstrated the Nevarian sword techniques he was teaching him today with a practiced and powerful ease.

The old saying was true that time never stands still, which was why Barry and Leonard were somehow in the middle of their fifth month of marriage. Both men could scarcely believe whenever they thought about it. Somedays it felt like only yesterday they had been standing before each other in the great hall of the palace, exchanging vows and placing rings on each other's fingers. Other days, both of them could feel the passage of time acutely for there had been many changes both big and small.

After Barry had told Leonard about the horrifying way that he had lost both of his parents, they had spent the rest of that night talking. It was then that Leonard had revealed that he and Lisa had not had an idyllic childhood themselves.

King Lewis Lionel Adamus Snart had not only ruled Nevar with an iron-fist, but had ruled his family even more so. The man had been an abusive and if the scars Barry had seen on Leonard's back had been any indication, that abusiveness had not just been verbal. Barry had listened silently and with his heart breaking as Leonard described how Lewis had turned the early years of his eldest child's into a nightmare after a devastating loss. It was also how Barry came to know that Leonard and Lisa were half siblings. Leonard's mother, Constantina, had died in childbirth trying to give Lewis a second heir. The pregnancy coupled with her delicate constitution had proven to be too much as she and the baby boy she had been carrying did not survive. Lewis had gone mad with grief but instead of moving on, the man had turned all of his sorrow and anguish into cold and raw hate, and directed it all straight at the most convenient target he had.

Leonard.

For four long and lonely years Leonard had endured his father's undeserved anger and abuse. Then when Leonard was eight, Lewis had married a woman from a foreign land across the sea, There was no love there, only the obtainment of a political allegiance. The woman could barely speak english, and while she was always kind to Leonard, she never grew close enough to be any kind of mother to him. Lisa was born a year later, and for Leonard it had been love at first sight. Leonard became Lisa's guardian in every sense of the word, especially when it was clear they Lewis had wanted only sons, and the strain of childbirth had caused something to shift in Lisa's mother's mind to where she could barely stand the sight of either children. Another five years went by like this, with Leonard taking the brunt of the abuse from his father and dealing with the neglect of his step-mother. On top of that, Leonard and Lisa would often times find themselves caught in the middle of the turbulent and terrifying fights between Lewis and his second wife.

Then one day Lisa's mother just wasn't there anymore. All Leonard remembered was that all of the woman's things were gone, and that a ship had set sail from the Nevarian port taking all political ties with it. After that it had just been Leonard basically being a shield for Lisa against Lewis, especially when their father got drunk, because Lewis had been an awful, mean drunk. So the years had gone with Leonard silently taking every hit and kind word, sparing his baby sister and taking on the scars both seen and unseen.

Then, when Leonard was twenty-one and Lisa was thirteen, Lewis died without ever mending anything with either of his children. Apparently all of the heavy drinking had been the thing that did him in. Leonard had succeeded his father and King and take over Nevar, turning the kingdom that had fallen into dilapidation and disrepair under Lewis' empty reign into a thriving but deeply private nerve center.

After Leonard had finished his tale of his own unhappy childhood, Barry had surprised his husband by asking him how he had meet Michael Edan Rory, the man who's title Barry now held, but who's place in Leonard's heart he would never try to take.

Leonard had smiled with nostalgia as he recounted the first time he and Mick had met. Leonard had thirty years old and had been on the Nevarian throne for nine years of ups and downs and proving to all those who doubted him because he was so young when he ascended the throne that he was a more than competent king. Sure he had had his fair share of screw up, but they had served as valuable lessons regarding politics and real life. But while his life as a king was thriving, his life as a man was woefully devoid of love other than that of his adoring baby sister.

Then the annual Nevarian Winter Solstice Ball had taken place at the palace. Leonard had just been there to preside over everything and be a good host. He hadn't expected to go over to one of the tables for a slice of chocolate cake and find himself face to face with a pair of rich, dark brown eyes that belonged to the most handsome man he had ever laid eyes on. When the man had introduced himself as one Prince Michael Edan Rory from the kingdom of Niran from across the seas, Leonard had been a goner.

Leonard had spoken about how he and Mick had courted each other for a good year and a half before they married, and unfortunately, Barry already knew how things had turned out.

As Barry focused on demonstrating the move Leonard had just showed him on the practice dummy, he did his best not to stare too much at the other man.

After they had gotten to talking and sharing the sad beginnings of their lives, things had indeed changed between them. True, the walls had not come down completely, but they had melted in a few places to allow the possibility of being.

It had been just past sunset when Leonard and Barry, both emotionally drained but on the same page, had ventured out of the royal apartments and been immediately descended upon by a relieved Lisa and Cisco.

In the days that had passed, Barry had found himself quietly delighted when Leonard had started reaching out to him. The King would ask his husband to have meals with him, and in turn would try to join Barry whenever the young Prince Consort would request his company. Leonard had been deeply pleased when Barry had asked him if they could learn Nevarian swordplay from him. Sure this meant waking up before the crack of dawn sometimes, but seeing the quiet joy on Barry's face had been well worth it.

Somewhere along the way, Leonard and Bartholomew and become Len and Barry, the weight of being married fading into the background as the bonds of friendship slowly but surely formed.

" They seem to be getting along really good these days." Cisco said quietly to Mark Mardon as the pair stood outside of the truing circle, observing the royal couple.

Mark Mardon found a smile gracing his lips as he nodded.

" Yeah, I think they got on the same page after you and his highness found the closed off wing of the palace. Brave of you both by the way, crazy stupid, but brave." Mardon said with a cheeky grin.

As Cisco ducked his head and laughed, Mark happened to look up at that moment in time to see Lisa smiling down at her brother and brother-in-law from where she stood by the stone railing a couple of levels up from the ground floor of the palace. Feeling mischievous, Mark slung a friendly arms around Cisco's shoulder and jerked his head in Lisa's direction and spoke.

" Speaking of getting on the same page, check out who's up there watching."

Cisco looked up and Mark had to bite back a laugh at the a dreamy grin immediately spread across the young nobleman's face as he caught sight of Lisa, looking absolutely gorgeous in a soft teal colored gown with white floral brocades over the quarter-lenth sleeve. Around her neck was a simple, elegant choker of pearls with a peach-colored cameo pendent handing from the center of the last strand. Her hair fell loose and wavy about her shoulder.

There was no denying that Cisco had well and truly lost his heart to the Princess of Nevar, and as Mark watched said princess catch sight of Cisco gazing at her and smiling back before she sent him a cheeky wink, Lisa wasn't just playfully flirting either.

Mark turned his attention back to Leonard where he was smiling and praising Barry for carrying out the set of moves he had shown him and resisted the urge to snicker.

Heaven help Cisco if he had anything less then honorable intentions towards Leonard Snart's baby sister.

From where he was, Len felt pride surge through him as he watched Barry repeat the sword move, ending with a devastating jab to the center of the training dummy's chest. The Kid was a fast learner and while he already had speed in spades, Len was sure that in no time at all and with loads of practice Barry would be holding his own against the best of Nevar.

As he stood there watching the way Barry's body moved with an inherent gracefulness, Len couldn't help but feel this light tingle just beneath the surface of his skin. It was true that he and Barry had made great strides to get to know each other, like how he learned that Barry loved to have strawberries with cream along side whatever he was having for breakfast, and that Barry loved to read mystery stories. Len bit back a smile as he remembered how he had found out that Barry was also a very good singer.

Turns out the Kid liked to sing while bathing, loudly.

Yeah things were different and Len found his smile coming to the surface more easily with each passing day. However, for all these changes, a few thing still remained. Like the fact that he and Barry had still not consummated their marriage. Sure they still slept in the same bed and got to the point where they weren't laying at he very far ends of their respective sides, but they had yet to come together that way.

Sure, there had been a few highly embarrassing, highly thrilling if Len were to be honest, mornings where he and Barry found themselves tangled up in each others' arms rather tightly as a matter of fact, but they would always awkwardly laugh it off and disentangle themselves.

Every single time it happened Len had felt like there had been a live-current going through him, and there was this yawning ache to take Barry back into his arms once they separated. But Len always quashed it down believing that Barry and him just weren't ready for that yet, Hell, they had only just become friendly towards each other.

Len quickly shook himself of those thoughts and focused instead on showing Barry. But as he went about showing Barry a blocking technique to counter the attack he had demonstrated earlier, Len also had another important thought running through his mind.

Barry's twenty-sixth birthday was in three days. It would be his first birthday here with Len in Nevar. While Len had secretly arranged for one birthday gift already that he hoped the Kid would like, there was another gift Len carefully and even more secretively arranging for his husband that he knew the younger man would love for sure.

But that was all for the actually birthday, for right now Len steered his mind back to the sword training and making sure that neither he nor Barry ended up accidentally loosing eyeballs or fingers even though they were using training blades. And if Len had to focus extra hard to keep himself from getting too distracted by just how absolutely gorgeous Barry looked in the bright Nevarian afternoon sun well, Len didn't mind that too much.

 _Three days later, with a bright new morning was shining over the kingdom of Nevar..._

Hazel green eyes fluttered open as awareness returned. With a light yawn Barry pushed back the covers and stretched. A look at the clock on the far wall had told him that it was nine o'clock. Barry grinned sheepishly to himself as he rubbed at the back of his neck. He had been all for waking up early and going down to the training ground before dawn like he did almost every morning but the night before as they were getting into bed, Len had simply told him that there would be no early morning training today and the Barry should sleep in for once. Barry had laughed thinking his husband was joking until Len had quirked a perfect dark eyebrow at him and that was all that was needed to let Barry know Len hadn't been joking.

So Barry had allowed himself to simply drift back to sleep after he woke up at his usual time. As he rose to his feet and lightly stretched his back, Barry noted that he had slept in a good three hours. But when he turned to face the bed, Barry was a bit jarred when he say that the other half of the bed was empty, containing no handsome King of Nevar.

But just as Barry was about to go looking for Len, the man in question walked in through the side door that connected his changing suite to the main bedroom.

" Good morning Kid." Len greeted as he walked into the room, already dressed for the day. He had on a pale green Tudor jacket over which was sleeveless over jacket of rich looking gray and white fur that fell just past his knees. Over this was a simple chain of silver with matching pale green gems. White trousers and shiny black knee-length boots finished off the look.

" Hey, good morning." Barry said as he stepped around the bed to meet his husband in the center of the room, only feeling a little self-conscious that he was still in nothing but a loose white sleeping shirt and matching pants while his husband was already so regally dressed.

Len's eyes looked more bright green today, due to a combination of the morning light and the outfit he was wearing, at they were filled with warmth as they gazed at Barry.

" Off to work already?" Barry asked, doing his best not to let his disappointment show. He really had wanted to spend his birthday morning with his husband. Len nodded.

" Yeah, duty called." Len said with a sigh before he reached out and gripped Barry's shoulder.

" But it'll only take me half an hour tops, so I'll be able to join you guys for breakfast." Len assured. He did his best not to grin as Barry instantly brightened up.

" Really, that's great!" Len chuckled before he let go, gesturing behind him.

" I already asked them to draw up a fresh bath for you so get cracking, you know Lisa'll be waiting." Barry chuckled and nodded at the mention of their sister.

Then Len reached into one of his inner coat-pockets, a shy smile spreading across his lips as he pulled out a small, oval shaped box.

" Len what-" Barry began to ask, but the rest of his question evaporated into a small gasp as Leonard opened the box and presented its contents to him.

Inside rested an exquisitely made signet ring. It was made of bright platinum and delicately engraved at its center was the Snart family crest with a frost like border around it.

" Happy Birthday Kid." Len said simply before he took the ring out of its box. Barry raised his right hand, on which his bother's engagement ring still adorned his pinky and let Leonard gently slip the ring onto is right ring finger so that the new ring was right beside the older one. It fit perfectly and seems dot almost glow in the soft Nevarian spring light.

" Thank you." Barry said quietly, deeply moved as he gazed at his first birthday gift ever from Leonard.

" Don't mention it." Len said softly.

They stared at each other warmly, a charged silence passing between them before Leonard seemed to snap out of it first. Lightly clearing his throat the King took a step back as he spoke.

" I should get going." Barry's smile grew quieter as he nodded.

" I'll see you later Len."

Len gave a final nod before he turned and headed out of the room, letting out a shaky breath and focusing on the task at hand. It wasn't a matter of state that urgently needed his attention, but something a bit more private.

Barry took a moment to admire the ring that now adorned his finger, feeling a warmth radiated through him simply from knowing his husband had wished him a happy birthday before he quickly remembered that he had to get ready.

Before he made his way to the bathroom, made his way over to the changing suite where Cisco was waiting for him. Telling his best friend which outfit to set out for him, Barry hurried off to go take a quick bath. Once he had gotten the bath out of the way, Barry dressed in his choice of a deep purple tudor jacket with a gold filigree design over the sleeves with black leather trousers and knee-length boots, finishing off the look with the smaller version of his wedding chain. After he was sure that he was presentable enough, Barry and Cisco hurried down to one of the private dining rooms, where Princess Lisa was waiting for them with a sumptuous breakfast.

" Happy birthday New Brother." Lisa said with a bright grin as she presented Barry with a flat, square box.

" You shouldn't have Sis." Barry said as he pushed back the lid of the box to see what was inside, when he did Barry couldn't hold back a gasp.

There laying on a cushion of crushed yellow velvet was a stunning chain of pearls and oval cut deep purple amethyst stone inlaid within vibrant gold. At the center was a medallion of gold filigree around a larger oval cut amethyst stone, into which was delicately carved the combined emblem of Nevar and Central kingdom so that it stood out pure white against the purple stone.

It was exquisite beyond words, but Barry loved it more for the sentiment behind it as he hugged Lisa soundly and kissed the top of her head. After Lisa, Cisco had stepped forward with gifts of his own in the form of letters that had come in from Central Kingdom from Joe, Iris, Eddie, and Eddie's mom, all wishing him a happy birthday and telling him how much they missed him back in Central Kingdom.

It had taken Barry a good twenty minutes to regain his composure after that. Then Leonard had finally made it in, looking quietly pleased about something. They all settled into enjoying the rest of breakfast together, Barry not noticing the secretive smile Len shared with Lisa and Cisco.

After they were done eating and the dishes were cleared away, Lisa had suddenly suggested that they all go for a walk since there wasn't any urgent matter for Len to attend to. Barry had eyed Len suspiciously for a moment when his husband had agreed, but didn't linger on the matter as they walked down the sunlit halls and out onto the palace grounds.

As the royals had walked Barry received birthday wishes from the guards that were stationed and the servants busy walking about the palace. They even ran into a few members of Leonard's advisory counsel who wished Barry a happy birthday.

But it was when the four of them were about to turn the corner and come by the royal stables that Lisa suddenly pounced and covered Barry's eyes with her hands.

" I knew it, knew you guys were up to something." Barry said with mock annoyance before he laughed and bent down a little to make it easier for Lisa.

" Relax Red and keep those eyes closed." Barry heard Len say from somewhere up ahead.

Barry walked slightly awkwardly with Lisa covering his eyes until she whispered for him to stop.

" Are you ready Barry?" Lisa asked excitedly.

" Ready as I'll every be Sis." barry replied with a laugh.

Lisa giggled before she finally pulled her hands away from Barry's eyes so that her brother-in-law could see again. Barry blinked and them looked ahead and found the breath completely leaving his body.

" Oh no way." He whispered in awe.

There standing a few feet away was a smiling Leonard and beside him stood this absolutely magnificent looking red thoroughbred stallion. The animal's coat was a coppery red hue that almost gleamed in the sunlight, showcasing beautifully built and powerful muscles. The stallions mane and tail were ebony-black and glossy and seemed to almost float at the ends. Around the animals head was a simple black leather bridle with a few silver accents with Leonard firmly holding the leads.

" Surprise my Prince." Cisco said with a smile as an astonished Barry stepped forward.

" He's beautiful." Barry said softly as he held out his hand towards the stallion's velvety muzzle so that the animal could sniff at him.

" He's yours." Leonard said simply as the stallion let out a soft knicker and nuzzled curiously at Barry's hand, while the Prince Consort stepped a little closer and ran his other hand over the stallion's powerful neck.

A moment later Leonard found himself getting all but tackled by his elated young husband.

" Thank you so much." Barry said quietly against Len's neck. Len smoothly handed the reins over to Cisco so that he could return Barry's hug properly as he spoke.

" Don't mention it Kid." The King of Nevar said quietly, feeling a little shy again since he was hugging Barry with Lisa and Cisco present.

As he looked up from Barry's shoulder, Leonard shared another look with Lisa and Cisco, sending them a wink that had both Lisa and Cisco's grins widening.

They weren't done yet.

Barry would get to name and ride his new stallion later. Once they had left the horse in the care of the stable attendants, the royals had all headed back inside, Barry good-naturedly ribbing Leonard for not being straight with him when the King revealed that the stallion's arrival to the castle had been the real reason he had been called away earlier in the morning and not any state matter.

But inevitably work did come up as the day progressed. Lisa had some gild matters to attend to plus she had to go oversee the preparations for the party that would be taking place later, and Leonard got called away as word had come in regarding a new shipment of grain that had just come into port from overseas. Barry and Cisco themselves headed over to the Healer's wing of the palace where they joined Caitlyn in practicing medicine making like Lord Harrison Wells had taught them. But as he and Cisco had walked, Barry couldn't help but feel like he was somehow being watched. Sure, being a Prince and all he was used to the guards always being there for security purposes, but this was a different feeling. Just something set him on edge. Barry hadn't lingered on it though as he and Cisco reached the Healer's wing and got busy with the various ingredients and instructions.

So the day passed normally enough with the buzz of it being Barry's birthday lacing the air, everyone meeting up again for lunch in the private family dining room. But even as he ate Barry felt the hairs stand up at the back of his neck, that same feeling of being watched coming over him again.

" What's wrong Barry, is the beef not cooked enough?" Len asked as he noticed the way Barry was frowning and not touching the strips of skirt steak and salad he had been digging into earlier.

Barry looked up to meet Leonard's lightly concerned gaze and shook his head.

" It's nothing, just had this weird feeling of being watched all day, well, more so than usual." Barry explained.

Since Barry had been looking at Leonard, he didn't see the way Lisa froze with her fork halfway to her mouth or the look of mild panic that filled Cisco's face before the two of them looked to each other and then at Len all in silence.

Len kept it cool with three sets of eyes on him as he shook his head and let out a small chuckle as he spoke.

" Well this castle has been standing for the last five hundred years, who's to say there aren't a few ghosts coming out of the woodwork to wish you a happy birthday too?" He said with a quirk of his lips.

Barry instantly lost the tension and rolled his eyes while Lisa and Cisco both chuckled.

" Great, a haunted birthday. That's a first." Barry drawled sarcastically before he turned his attention back to his lunch, even wordlessly taking a few strips of steak and putting them on Leonard's plate, stunning the King momentarily before he chuckled gave his considerate husband his thanks and went back to eating himself.

The hours passed and everyone stayed busy, then just after sunset Leonard and Barry headed back up to their apartments to get ready for the evening.

Len insisted Barry go first when it came to the bath, heading into the bedroom and straight for the large armoire that contained Barry's clothes. After riffling through the rather impressive collection, Leonard pulled out the jacket that caught his eye and stepped over to the door to Barry's changing suite.

" Hey Cisco, you in there?" Leonard called. A moment later the door was opening to reveal the Page in question.

" Yes your Majesty?" Cisco asked dutifully.

" I normally leave Barry to wear whatever, but could you tell him that I think he'd look great in this for the party?" Leonard asked as he held out his pick.

Cisco just smiled and took the offered hanger.

" Sure thing my king, I'll let him know once he comes in." Leonard nodded with a small smile before he headed over to his own armoire to pick out something for himself and hand it over to Ronnie.

Len waited outside in the living room area and only felt a little embarrassed when Barry came out of the bathroom freshly bathed and wearing nothing but a fluffy white towel around his waist. Over the course of their five months together so far, the royal couple had grown a bit more comfortable with each other to where neither was too bothered anymore by seeing the other shirtless. It came with sharing a bathroom after all.

" Hey Len, I asked them to draw up a fresh bath for you ASAP." Barry said with a smile as he and Len walked past each other, he to his changing suite and Len to the bathroom.

" Thanks, oh and I hope you don't mind but, I picked something out for you." Len said over his shoulder, pausing as Barry paused.

" You did?" Barry asked. Len nodded, suddenly feeling unsure until Barry smiled and nodded.

" Thanks Len, I'll be sure to wear the chain Sis gave me." Len chuckled as he and Barry turned back to head towards their respective destinations.

" Good man, she'll be so happy she'll try to stuff you with cake." Len called over his shoulders, hearing Barry's full belly laugh before they both disappeared through their respective doors.

Len bathed quickly and ducked into his own changing suite where Ronnie was waiting. Len had chosen a bright cerulean blue Tudor jacket with dark, royal blue sleeves that had a swirling design of simple silver studs. Since this was an official party, it called for full royal regalia. So over this jacket Leonard put on a floor length sleeveless over coat with plush looking light gray fur that had a bluish tinge. Over this Len wore a chain of large interlocking links encrusted with glittering white diamond and at the center of which hung a silver Nevarian snowflake emblem. Simple black leather trousers and black knee-length boots finished off the look while his wedding band glinted exquisitely in the light.

Atop his head he wore a simple silver filigree crown with medium sized square-cut sapphires around the border. Around his waist the king wore the belt and exquisite sword that Barry had given him on their wedding day. Once he had deemed himself ready, Leonard walked out of the changing suite into the living room. Barry had yet to emerge so Leonard and Ronnie simply stood and talked for a bit, the king asking Ronnie about how all of the guests were being taken care of.

Then the sound of a door opening had Len turning and when he did he felt his heart skip a beat, as cheesy as that sounded, but Barry tended to have that effect on him. Even more so seeing as to how Barry was wearing the outfit Len had picked out for him.

Barry looked every bit a prince. He had on a beautiful bright red Tudor jacket with metallic gold strips going up the chest diagonally and down the sleeves. Over this he had on a sleeveless coat that fell just past his knees, lined with a rich, chocolate brown fur. He had on matching red trousers and knee-length brown boots. Around his waist Barry wore his father's sword, the great weapon matching perfectly with the rest of his outfit. Draped from his shoulders was the magnificent chain Lisa had gifted him with that morning, the amethyst stones almost glowing against the red of Barry's jacket. And finally, atop Barry's head was a simply coronet of gold with deep red rubies inlaid at every point. On his hands were his wedding band on his left, and the two rings on his right, the signet Leonard had given him and his mother's ring.

With Cisco walking up behind him Barry made his way over Leonard and smiled softly at his husband.

" You look good My King." He said warmly.

" As do you My Prince." Leonard replied before he gestured to the doors.

" Shall we?" He asked, to which Barry smiled and nodded.

As they all headed out of the royal apartments to the grand dining room, Leonard did his best not to stare at his husband too much. They would be in the presence of the nobility of Nevar, it would not do for Nevar's king to be so distracted.

Once they reached the doors to the grand dining hall they were joined by Lisa, dressed resplendently in a bright metallic auburn colored gown with a show-stopping collar necklace of gold and white gems. Atop her head of a beautiful headdress with matching gems. She looked amazing, and if Cisco sort of fell over himself to kiss her hand after Leonard, Barry, and Ronnie had already done so, well, who could blame him?

The music was already playing over the murmur of many people talking from the other side of the door. The royals waited as always to be announced before entering. Once the doors swung away Len and Barry walked in together with Lisa by their side and Ronnie and Cisco following close behind, the music dying down in respect. The large crowd of final dressed people all smoothly parted and bowed as the royals made there way in. The three of them made there way up to a raised dais were three great thrones stood. Leonard, Barry, and Lisa all turned to face the crowd and then Leonard nodded and spoke loudly.

" Carry on."

The music started up and the crowd merged once more as Leonard, Barry, and Lisa all took their seats and let the merry atmosphere wash over them as people started walking up to them and bowing before wishing Barry a joyous birthday and presenting him with gifts. Barry received all manner of gifts, such as a set of exquisitely made ceremonial armor that was presented to him by Mark Mardon on behalf of the Nevarian Royal Guard. An archery set had been presented on behalf of King Oliver from Starling Kingdom, much to Barry and Leonard's amusement. Lord Harrison Wells had come forward and declared that Barry had achieved his first level of certification on his way to being a fully certified healer and presented an elated Barry with a gold pin that was shaped like a a set of eagle's wings with a small white jewel at its center. Barry wore the pin proudly on his collar. Wells had also assured Cisco that with a little more practice the younger man would be getting his own pin too.

And so the well wishing and gift presenting went on for a good half hour before Lisa had rose to her feet and declared that it was time for dancing to work up a good appetite. Not even Leonard was safe as he and Barry quickly shed their swords and made sure their crowns were securely on their heads before they were swept up.

Barry was twirling around Lisa as Leonard clapped his hands and watched on with a smile after a step or two of his own before he caught mark Mardon's eye and gave him a nod. The Nevarian General then grinned brightly and discreetly made his way around the crowd to the side entrance to the dining hall that stood a few feet away from the three thrones.

Lisa and Len then went about subtly dancing around Barry, making sure that the young man was facing away from the thrones.

Then the music suddenly cut off. Before Barry could ask what was going on, he was whirling around with a gasp as a familiar, deep voice sounded from behind him.

" What's this, you started the party without us Barry?"

Barry stumbled backwards a little, Len grabbing him from behind and steadying as the utterly stunned prince brought his hands to his mouth a his eyes instant, because standing there just a few feet away were a brightly grinning Joe West, Iris, and Eddie, all decked out in finery.

" Oh my God." Barry whispered while Len chuckled and spoke.

" It wasn't just the horse that came in this morning Kid."

A shell-shocked Barry turned to face his husband and spoke.

" You did this?" Len ducked his head as a smiling Lisa piped up.

" It was Len's idea, me, Cisco, and Mark were his accomplices. Surprise New Brother!"

A wide, tearful grin spread across Barry's face and the next thing Leonard knew he was being pulled forward and a pair of soft lips were pressed against his own. Leonard made a small, muffled noise of surprise because he hadn't been expecting the kiss, but after a second he kissed Barry back, albeit chastely.

For a moment everything else faded into the background and there was only Len and Barry, and the feeling of the kiss. It was heavenly and both of them would have loved for it to have gone on forever, but then the moment was over as they broke apart and the hall erupted in cheers and applause. Leonard's lips were tingling from the sensation and he felt his face heat up at the public display, but seeing the look of tearful gratitude on Barry's face made Len forget his own embarrassment.

" Thank you my husband." Barry said softly.

For reasons he couldn't explain, Leonard felt a large lump form in his throat, so he just nodded and sent Barry a reassuring smiling before he gestured to the surprise guest. With a watery laugh Barry barreled off to greet his Central Kingdom family, using his long arms to seized Joe, Iris, and Eddie into a group hug.

Len quickly composed himself back into the regal king as he watched his husband reunite with his adoptive father, sister, and brother-in-law, Lisa sniffling a little beside him as she gripped his arm and rested her head lightly against his shoulder. To be honest there were a few teary eyes in the room, Cisco looked up to see even Mark Mardon subtly wipe something away before he rejoined them.

After that the celebrations truly began, with Lisa and Iris being thick as thieves and getting Joe to join in a few dances along side Leonard. About an hour and a half later the royals all headed for the raised dais and the large crowd parted and mingled as the servants quickly and efficiently brought in the long ceremonial tables. A few minutes later a veritable army of servants came in baring trays of absolutely sumptuous looking food, all of Barry's favorite dishes both of Central Kingdom and Nevar.

As the combined royal family took their seat, Barry stood and raised his wine goblet in a toast.

" This is my first birthday here with you all in Nevar, andI would like to thank you all so very much, from the bottom of my heart. I would especially like to thank my husband, his majesty, for making this the best birthday ever." Barry declared as he gazed warmly at Leonard.

There was thunderous applause and raised glasses all around, and Leonard did his best not to blush under all of the many warm and approving looks that were sent his way, everyone agreeing with Barry's words.

After that, in a warm and lively atmosphere the food was eaten, wine and other spirits were drunk in spades, there was more dancing and then dessert was brought out. A laughing Barry blew out all twenty-six lit candles on a massive two tiered cake and shared a slice with Leonard.

The party lasted well into the wee hours of the morning before Leonard and Barry were dragging themselves back up to the royal apartments. As they parted to enter their respective changing suites, Leonard decided, most likely under the warm and buzzed influence of all the wine he had consume, that tonight he would stop holding back and make his desires known to Barry.

Those lips had been heavenly against his, now he wanted more.

Len shed all of his heavy royal garments and put on a pair of simple sleeping pants. As he made his way out of the changing suite Leonard steadied his resolve and entered his and Barry's bedroom.

But what he saw once he was in the room had all thoughts of the possibility of sexual congress instantly evaporating from his mind, for there with his long limbs akimbo and laying on his stomach was Barry, completely passed out.

With a small chuckle to himself and feeling a bit more sober and also relieved, Leonard made his way over to his unconscious husband and climbed into bed. As gently as he could without disturbing Barry too much, Leonard pulled back the covers and got the younger man under them before he laid down himself with a sigh.

As he gazed across at Barry's sleeping face, Len sighed. His young husband really was gorgeous, especially in peaceful, well-earned sleep with the barest flush to his pale features.

" Sweet dreams Kid." Len said with a sigh before he turned into his bad and stared up at the top of the canopy bed with a smile. It had been an awesome filled with love and celebration, but for Len, seeing Barry's smile throughout had been the best thing. Well, that and the impromptu kiss they had shared, only their second time since their wedding.

Just as an exhausted Len was about to drift off himself, there was a sudden, loud rumbling noise that had Len turned his head to stare at his sleeping husband. Len blinked owlishly as another rumble filled the air before his face was breaking out into a tired and amused smile as he turned back to staring up at the canopy, chuckling as he spoke to himself.

" He snores like a bear."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Chapter 7

Joe, Iris, and Eddie stayed on in Nevar for a whole week after celebrating Barry's birthday with him. The young Prince Consort had been ecstatic and spent a much time as he could with his Central Kingdom family. Turns out that feeling of being watched that Barry had experience throughout his birthday had been justified, for Joe, Iris, and Eddie had secretly watched him from afar, the palace being so vast it had allowed them to hide away and simply take in Barry as he had interacted with Leonard, Lisa, and Cisco. There had been many times where Joe, Iris, and Eddie had all just wanted to come out of hiding and throw their arms around Barry, but the plan had been to surprise him at the party, so they had somehow kept themselves back and stuck to it. There self-control had paid off in spades as they had surprised Barry latter that even at his party.

During the week, Barry and Leonard would take Joe and Eddie on hunts within the forests just outside the kingdom walls where they would hunt for the native and impressively huge elk or boars that roamed the lands and quail season had started midway through the week. Not to be left our, Lisa and Iris had joined some of the hunts as well, Iris showing off just how deadly an archer she was while Lisa showed off her own impressive trap making skills.

Lisa had proudly shown off the skills of her guild to Iris, and had been more than happy to explain how she had come about earning the prestigious position. Eddie had joined Barry and Cisco in the Healing wing and watched them and Caitlyn work with Lord Wells on new medicines. Since Eddie's mother, who still served as Chief Healer in Central Kingdom was getting on in years, Eddie had asked Wells if Nevar had any kind of medicine that could remedy joint pain. Wells had been more than happy to put together a powder for Eddie's mother, made from ingredients that could be found in Central Kingdom and a few Nevarian ingredients that could easily acquire through the Nevarian traders that would visit Central Kingdom on a regular basis.

It had pleased Joe to no end to see how happy Barry was with Leonard. Even though he could tell that there was still distance, it was clear that the two were getting along great. In addition to hunts, during some evenings Joe would watch Leonard and Barry go off for rides together. Leonard would be on his powerful Friesian stallion named Borealis while Barry would be on the magnificent red thoroughbred Len had gifted him with for his birthday, now christened Scarlet Speedster or "Speedy" as Barry liked to call him for short. The name was appropriate because the stallion could very well have been the fastest horse in all of Nevar. They would often bypass the busy city and head out into the woods where Leonard would show Barry the various trails and how some would lead towards the coast and others inward. These were the smaller routes that existed beside the main trade routes that led out to the other major kingdoms.

Those days had been wonderful for Barry, and for Leonard and Lisa as well, Joe being there to offer kingly, but more importantly, fatherly advice. But all too soon the week was up, and it was time for parting yet again.

While there had been tears and long hugs, it had not been as monumentally hard as the first time, when Len and Barry had only just married to say goodbye to Joe, Iris, and Eddie.

After that, a sad Barry had quietly asked to be left alone for a while and went to the stables where he saddled up Speedy and went for a solitary ride on the palace grounds. Barry was joining Len and Lisa for dinner, still a bit melancholy but overall okay.

Things went on as they always did and they were good between Barry and Len. Len decided not to tell Barry of his desires that night when they had come back to the royal apartments after Barry's birthday celebrations, due to both his own embarrassment and his desire not to spook Barry or make the young man feel pressured to have that kind of relationship.

But while Len was all for giving Barry his space and taking things slow, there were those on Len's counsel who were grumbling about the royal marriage remaining unconsummated. As royals, there came a certain level of respect, but even being royal did stop those filled with nastiness from having an opinion.

 _About two weeks after Barry's birthday..._

Leonard was on his way to his morning council meeting when just as he was about to turn a corner to head into the council chambers a pair of voices stopped him. Pressing himself to the wall and listening in, Leonard felt the bottom drop out of his stomach at the first clear words he could discern.

" Hey Roscoe, just how badly do you think his Highness Mick Rory is rolling in his grave?"

The raspy, sneering voice belonged to James Jesse, a Nevarian Noblemen who was just a little on the side of being full of himself. The other man was a fellow noble by the name of Roscoe Dillon. There had been many a time in the past where both of these men had wanted to serve on Leonard's council but neither had received enough votes to get on. They still hung around the castle due to their status but no one really paid them any mind. They gossiped worse than a pair of old ladies, and they were doing so now.

" Jesse you are awful, they cremated the man for God's sake." Dillon replied with a laugh while Jesse cackled.

" Be that as it may, the newer, younger model sure is a looker. If I were in his Majesty's place I would be pounding that perfect little ass into the mattress every night."

" Geez I do not need that image. Besides that, I am fairly certain he's got his own agenda, the kid's a smart one if he's got goody-two-shoes Wells singing his praises every chance he gets. And Mardon too, you'd think they were bewitched, and so is just about everyone else here, its always 'Oh he's so handsome and a perfect match for King Leonard' or 'Oh Prince Bartholomew is the sweetest thing'. If you ask me there's something wrong in the head with the kid for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be his father. He probably did it because that adopted father of his told him to just to have a connection between Nevar and Central. Pure politics with a side of having the keys to two kingdoms. And don't even get me started on when the new Prince Consort comes to court, it's like no body taught him a damn thing about running a kingdom! By the way, how blue do you think our King's balls have gotten from not getting any?" Dillion drawled with a laugh.

" Pretty damn blue from what bits I've heard here and there, it's coming up almost six months since they took the plunge, and they still haven't consummated it! Either our good _old_ king Leonard can't get it up or the kid's such a novice in bed the King won't touch him with a ten-foot pole." Jesse said with a snort.

With another laugh, the two nobles started walking away, cheerfully gossiping some more, oblivious to the furious steel-blue eyes that watched them as they went. With a shaky breath and his clenched fists quivering, Leonard silently pushed away from the wall and started walking towards the council chambers. As he walked, Leonard used every ounce of will power he had to calm down some and come across as his normal, cool and collected self. But as he held the morning meeting with his council, Dillon and Jesse's callouss and tasteless words kept crashing about inside his head, the anger they raised inside him simmering just beneath the surface.

When the meeting was done, Leonard had all but fled, but it was not to the royal apartments he went back to. Instead the king first went down to the royal wine cellars and taken one of the large bottles of the strongest wines Nevar had, much like the one that he and Barry had shared not too long ago. With the bottle in hand and a look on his face that was warning enough to anyone who was unfortunate enough to cross paths with him, Leonard made his way towards the wing of the palace was had stood cold and empty for the last five years behind thick black curtains.

 _Several hours later..._

The entire palace was on high alert, Barry especially as he grown concerned when Len hadn't shown up for lunch like they had planned to today. His asking where the King was had set off a palace wide search. Now though, Barry was walking down a familiar corridor where the air was cooler and the overall atmosphere was darker, emptier.

He had been informed by Ronnie that someone had seem Leonard disappear through the curtains and into the wing of the palace that had formerly been the royal apartments and had instantly been on his way down to it. Once he reached the curtain covered archway he found Lisa already there, looking anxious and also confused with Caitlyn by her side. When he had asked her what the Hell was going on, he had been stunned when Lisa informed him that hours earlier Leonard had basically disappeared into the former royal apartments and not come out since.

Now Barry had reached the doors with the carved flames. Taking in a deep steadying breath against the frigid nervousness that was clawing within his gut barry stepped over the threshold and into the cold remnants of a once happy life, for the second time since he had made the palace his home.

As he looked through the darkened and deserted living room area, Barry felt his heart clench when he saw that the doors to the bedroom up ahead were ajar. Swallowing, Barry made his way over to the doors and slowly stepped across the threshold into the bedroom where Len had told him that he had lost his beloved first husband.

Barry felt his heart go to pieces as he gazed at the once vibrant room that was now a bare husk. An empty canopy bed farm devoid of mattress and curtains stood by the far wall, an empty armoire stood by the door to the changing suite. Even in the darkness Barry could see the layer of dust that covered them. All other furniture was covered by white sheets. But as he stepped further into the room Barry startled when a familiar deep, slightly slurred voice sounded.

" You look just like Barry."

Barry turned and felt his insides go cold as he spotted Len, sitting alone in the dark, the shadows obscuring most if his face save for a lone strip of sunlight coming in through the curtains that illuminated one half of his face and showed his glassy, alcohol-riddled blue eye. But there were no tears welling, and no tear tracks down Len's pale face, there was only the quiet desolation that was radiating off of the King. A few feet away on the floor there was the fur over coat and chain Len had been wearing earlier, leaving the inebriated king in only his Tudor jacket.

" Len?" Barry asked as he took a tentative step forward towards his husband. A glance down had Barry seeing the wine bottle by Len's feet, half of its contents already gone.

" Gorgeous, amazing... untouchable Barry." Leonard drawled before he let out a high-pitched chuckle.

" Len what are you doing in here?" Barry asked softly as he came to stand before his husband, who was well and truly out of it.

" Getting shit-faced stupid." Leonard responded flatly before he gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes and continued.

" Enjoying the good wine and wondering how this has become my life."

" What do you mean?" Barry asked, deciding to play along. Len took in a long shuddering breath before he spoke.

" How did I end up forty-three years old with a twenty-six year old husband who'll never love me like Mick loves me?" He slurred out before he suddenly surged forward in the chair he was sitting in and screamed at the top of his lungs.

" WHERE'S MICK?"

Barry did his best to hold his ground, Len's yells truly terrifying in his inebriated state. Len fell back in his chair and let out a humorless chuckle.

" Why is Barry here? What does he want?" Barry took a shuddering breath and spoke.

" Maybe he came because he just wanted to be with a good man like you?" He asked softly. Len just made a disgusted noise and shook his head.

" That is bull...crap, ugh, I am not a good man, I couldn't even keep my... my best friend, my love, my Mick for dying... A fever, a fucking _fever_ took him from me... I am just a loser... a loser just like... just like my father. H-He always... always told me how worthless I was... am... "

Barry had to close his eyes against the tears that had formed him is eyes, his heart shattering with each slurred and halting word Len forced out.

" Len that's not true." Barry said softly, eating to reach out but not knowing how Len would react. Len just sighed and shook his head, the next words out of his mouth like a physical punch to Barry's gut.

" I should... I should make Barry leave... I need to make him leave. He'd be better off back in Central King-Kingdom with his family."

" What, why?" Barry asked shakily, stunned to his very core and feeling like his whole world was collapsing out from under him.

Len sat up in his seat and opened his mouth to speak, but then with a low groan his eyes rolled up into a back of his head and he he listed to the side precariously as consciousness rapidly left him. With a gasp Barry surged forward and caught his husband before the older man fell out of the chair completely. Barry knelt on the ground and let out a small sob as he held Len's completely boneless form tightly, the older man's head resting on his shoulder. As the tears began to gush from his eyes, Barry allowed the despair to wash over him like a black tidal wave.

He had no idea Len felt the way he did, so much dejection, so much self-loathing, but all of that was nothing to the soul-crushing truth, or what Barry couldn't help but think was the truth anyway.

That Len, his husband, wanted him gone.

Barry sobbed quietly against Len's neck, allowing himself these few moments of utter anguish before with a shuddering breath Barry forced himself to stop crying and focus on the task at hand, wiping away the tear stains on his cheeks. The devastated husband was pushed to the side as the healer in trainer took over. Another look at the bottle by Len's feet told him that his husband had basically chucked half a bottle of highly potent alcohol. That in and of itself was worrying, but added to that Len had just passed out. Not wanting to take any chances, Barry gritted his teeth and slowly rose to his feet, pulling Len up with him. Leonard was already broader that Barry in frame, but he'd become even heavier since he was completely boneless. But with a loud grunt Barry bore his husband's full weight, hoisting Leonard half onto his shoulder before proceeding to all but drag his husband out of the former royal apartments.

He needed to get Len to the Healers Wing so that was what he was going to do.

About ten minutes later, Lisa who had been pacing restlessly with Cisco, Caitlyn, and Ronnie's reassurances falling of deaf ears turned sharply when she heard a slightly pained grunt as the thick curtains were shoved aside and Barry appeared, his face slightly red from exertion as he was all but carrying Len out. Ronnie and Cisco both moved to help Barry, but he stopped them cold in their tracks with a single look.

" His Majesty drank too much and then passed out, I need to get him to Wells now." Barry said, everything from his voice to his eyes starkly frigid.

Lisa wanted to ask what had happened to put that look on Barry's face, but seeing how pale her unconscious brother was, Lisa thought better of it as she and Ronnie proceeded to lead Barry down the shortest passage they knew that would get them to the Healing Wing.

Cisco watched on in deep concern as Barry carried Len all the way to the Healing Wing, refusing all offers of assistance. Once there Lisa rushed ahead and alerted Wells. The advisor and chief healer came rushing forward, his black work robe billowing behind him.

" What the Hell is going on?" Wells asked as he took Len's other side, finally shifting some of the burden off of Barry as they rushed through the wing into one of the private and secure wards.

" He drank half a bottle of Pyralis wine straight and passed out." A breathless barry explained once they had lowered Len onto one of the healing beds and Wells went about peeling Len's eye lids back with his thumbs and taking his pulse, which was fast and thready.

" Damn it, we're gonna need to make him throw up as much of what he drank as we can." Wells declared.

Barry was in full healer mode, serious faced and detached as he looked up from Len and spoke.

" Me and Cisco ground some Cacepi yesterday, that should work." Wells nodded before he stepped away.

" You go and get that, mix it like I showed you, I'll go and get Hartshorn to wake him up. If that doesn't work we'll have to force the Cacepi down his throat." Barry nodded, taking a lingering look at his unconscious husband before his face hardened into a determined look and he ran past them all and disappeared into the palace apothecary.

Wells was the first to get back, a small vial of whitish-gold crystals in his hand. Wells pulled out the cork and instructed Ronnie to pull Len into a sitting position, which the Page did with a little difficultly since Len flopped about a bit. Lisa had to blink back the tears at seeing her older brother and king in such a state.

Frowning in concentration, Wells used one hand to tilt Len's head up a bit while he held the vial under his unconscious king's nostrils. After a view tense seconds the smelling salts did their work as with a jerk Len's eyes flew open and he groaned.

" What the Hell?" Len drawled slowly, his eyes glassy and unfocused. At least some of the tension returned to his body and made it easier for Ronnie to hold Len up.

" My King, do you know where you are?" Wells asked in order to evaluate just how with it Len was now that he was awake.

" Yeah, I know where I am. 'm in Hell." Len slurred before he let out a humorless chuckle and then tried to get up. Ronnie and Wells combined there efforts to keep Len from getting up off the bed. Wells looked over his shoulder while Len babbled drunkenly.

" Hey Lisa, baby Lisa... My baby, could you go and get me another bottle of the good stuff? I seem to have... To have mispla...mis... Lost the bottle I had with me." Len asked with a watery grin.

" You've had enough big brother." Lisa said quietly as she stepped foreword and started running her hands over Len's head soothingly. Cisco had a pained look on his face, wondering just what the hell had happened to make Leonard behave this way, to get so drunk that he couldn't see straight.

A few minutes later Len started to become less and less coherent, inanely babbling about everything from Mick to how he had ruined everything. Thankfully, a stone-faced Barry came trotting back with with a small beaker containing an opaque, milky white liquid.

Not bothering to hand it over to Wells, Barry headed straight for Len.

" Hi Barry's look-alike." Len said with a wave, causing everyone else to look at Barry with concern. Barry just shook his head, his face telling them clearly that he was in no mood to answer any questions they might have. His sole focus was his husband. Then with a practiced speed, Barry was holding the back of Len's head and pressing the beaker to his lips. Len was so out of it and wanting a drink that he took a few sips before he made a face and jerked away and groaned unhappily at the slightly bitter taste of the concoction.

" What the fuck is that shit?" Len asked blearily .

" It's just something to make you feel better, and don't worry you don't have to drink any more or it." Barry said with false cheer before he sat down next to Len on the bed and took the inebriated man into his arms so that Len was leaning against his chest and his head was resting under Barry's chin.

Barry then turned hard eyes on everyone and spoke, first to Wells.

" Lord Wells, you stay." Barry said before he turned to the other three people standing around him and Len.

" But I want the rest of you to go." Lisa inhaled sharply before she shook her head.

" Have you lost your mind Barry? I am to going anywhere." She said loudly, defiance radiating off of her.

But when Barry's hard green eyes suddenly softened into a look of immeasurable anguish, Lisa felt her heart clench.

" Please Sis, I don't want you to see him like this, and I am sure he wouldn't either. The Cecapi will kick in soon so please just go. I am not asking you all to leave the Healing Wing entirely, just maybe go wait out in the main ward." Barry said quietly as Len let out a small groan against him.

Wells nodded and turned to the Princess and the two Pages.

" Barry's right, the less people there are the better. Besides that, think of his Majesty's dignity." Wells said quietly.

That had Lisa, Caitlyn, Cisco, and Ronnie all jerking a little as there eyes went to their king. Then Lisa sighed sadly and nodded before she strode forward, kissing Len's clammy brow and then Barry's'

" Take care of him New brother." She said tearfully.

" I will, I swear it Sis." Barry said softly before he looked to Cisco and Ronnie.

" Ronnie." He beckoned.

" Yes you Highness?" Ronnie said, concerned still but now dutiful.

" I need you to go to the former royal apartments and get his majesty's coat and chain, he left them there with the wine bottle, just clean the place up and close the doors, they were left open."

Ronnie nodded.

" Your will my Prince." With that he hurried off carry out his orders.

Barry then turned to Cisco as Len let out a low groan and started curling in on himself, no doubt from the cramps the Cacepi was starting to induce in his stomach.

" Cisco, please go and get a nightshirt for his majesty." Barry said before he turned his full attention to Len and started to undue the button on Len's Tudor jacket.

" Your highness, please come away." Caitlyn said softly to Lisa without any prompting, Wells and Barry both sending her a grateful look.

With a hitched breath Lisa allowed Caitlyn to gently pull her away, leaving Barry to get Len out of the restrictive formal jacket. No sooner was Len free of the jacket he was heaving with a low moan. Thankfully Wells was there with a bucket as Len vomited, Barry wincing at both the sound and the slightly rancid smell of the wine as it, along with the rest of the contents of Len's stomach came up. Had it not been known that the King of Nevar had guzzled down so much wine, when looking at him now one would have thought the king was dying, puking up his life''s blood or something. Thankfully it really was just wine.

From where she stood, Lisa barely bit back a sob as she heard her brother's retching noises, Caitlyn keeping a calm hand on the Princess' shoulder. A few minuets later Cisco was rushing back into the Healing Wing with the crisp white nightshirt like Barry had asked, ducking into the private ward and then ducking back out and standing with Lisa and Caitlyn. Ronnie joined them five minutes later having cleaned and closed the former royal apartments as he had been asked to do. As they had all stood there waiting, without taking her eyes away from the archway to the private ward, Lisa had reached out and taken Cisco's hand into her own, the young man silently squeezing it back. If either Ronnie or Caitlyn say, they made no comment about it as Ronnie stood with his arm around his wife, they too anxiously awaiting news.

The retching noises had long died down, and after there was only a few faint groans coming from within the private ward before it had all gone quiet. About twenty minutes later Harrison Wells stepped out looking a little worn but with a wan smile on his face. Lisa was instantly rushing forward.

" How is he Harrison?"

Wells gave Lisa a reassuring look.

" He's fine, the Cacepi did its job and he threw up the alcohol. Me and Barry got him to eat some salt crackers and water just so that he's got something in his stomach. He's out cold right now, but its just sleep. He's gonna be fine, save for the massive hangover he's sure to have in the morning." Lisa and the others looked truly relieved, but then Wells looked to them all in askance.

" I still don't understand what caused him to do this. Besides the fact that we all know his Majesty mostly drinks only during meals, and the mild wine at that, why did he suddenly decide it would be a good idea to drain almost an entire bottle of Pyralis all by himself?"

Lisa and the others could only shrug or shake their heads.

" I am at a complete loss here Harrison, Len was fine this morning, he had breakfast with us before he headed off to his usual morning meeting with you and the other councilors. He and Barry had plans to have lunch together, but when he didn't show we all started looking for him until we found out Len was holed up in the apartments he shared with Mick. Then Barry went in and dragged him out."

Harrison shook his head, but Lisa's words made him think back to earlier that morning and how he hand observed his king.

" Now that you mention the morning meeting, I do remember that even though he conducted the meeting as professionally as he always did, there were times where I caught him looking off at nothing but there was anger behind his eyes, deep anger about something." Wells then shook his head.

" Whatever it was, only his Majesty knows."

Back in the private ward, Barry sat beside his sleeping husband, rubbing weary hand over his face and feeling like he had just run through a gauntlet. As he sat there, Barry felt all of Leonard's drunken words come roaring back into the forefront of his mind. Barry felt his face crumble a little as he remembered the last thing Len had said before he'd passed out.

As he stared at the peacefully sleeping face of his husband, Barry reached out his hand, wanting to cover one of Leonard's that was resting on his chest, but just as he was about to reach it, Barry froze and then pulled back as if burned. In that moment Leonard's last words to him before he had passed out came crashing back and cutting to his very soul.

 _" I should... I should make Barry leave... I need to make him leave. He'd be better off back in Central King-Kingdom with his family."_

In an instant Barry felt his insides go cold.

So this was the truth that the alcohol had brought to the surface, that Len wanted him gone, that he wasn't family. It had all been a lie. With tears welling in his eyes Barry leaned back in his seat and let out a humorless laugh that ended in a sob. As he brought up his left hand and stared at his wedding band, glinting and looking so mockingly gorgeous, Barry took in a deep, shuddering breath.

He had been so foolish to believe.

Barry dropped his hand and allowed a few tears to fall free, sitting there in abject misery for a few minutes. But the sound of the voices outside the private ward coupled with approaching feet had Barry quickly wiping the tears away and schooling his features and he got up to greet a relieved looking Lisa, Cisco, Caitlyn, and Ronnie with Wells coming in behind them.

" He's okay now Sis, he's gonna be just fine." Barry said quietly as he hugged Lisa back, the Princess's embrace so tight Barry thought for sure that she was bending his ribs in a few places.

" Thanks to you New Brother. How did we ever get on without you?' Lisa said with a sob.

 _" You got on just fine, you guys had Mick. And your brother wants to get rid of me Princess."_ Barry thought to himself crisply, doing his best to keep the hurt and anger from showing on his face.

After that everyone had sat around Leonard, hoping that maybe he would wake up and confirm that he was alright, but all Leonard did was sleep on, blissfully unaware of the damage his drunken behavior had caused.

Leaving Lisa and Wells looking out for Leonard, Barry had quietly excused himself to go up to the royal apartments to take a quick bath and change. Oddly, he had asked Cisco to remain with Lisa and gone upstairs by himself.

It was only in the privacy of the bathroom, with the doors locked that Barry allowed himself to give in to his despair. As he sat in the bathing pool filled with just hot water Barry sobbed till he had no tears left to shed. It was with this desolation that Barry finished his bath and quietly put on fresh clothes before he heard back downstairs to the Healing Wing.

Barry spent the rest of the night keeping vigil over Leonard as his husband slept, his feelings of utter despair warring with wanting to trash the entire Healing Wing and let everyone know just how furious he was. Barry sent Lisa, Cisco, Caitlyn, and Ronnie off to bed in the wee morning hours. Wells would come in periodically to check and find Barry sitting by Leonard's side without fail and with a troubled look marring his brow. Wells did not think much of it, assuming Barry was just as clueless as the rest of them were regarding why Leonard had gone off on such a bender, unaware of the young Prince Consort's inner turmoil from what he had experienced alone with Leonard.

Barry didn't sleep at all that night, sitting there beside Leonard, being so close and yet so far away from the man that, if Barry was completely honest with himself, he had fallen truly and irrevocably in love with from the moment they had shared that goblet of wine during their wedding reception.

But as far as Barry was concerned, Leonard did not feel that way for him, and if the harrowing events of what was now yesterday were anything to go by, his husband of six months never would.

As he sat there in desolation, Barry reached a decision and started forming a plan, even though it made him want to curl up and die.

 _Some hours later, with the sunlight of a fresh new morning over Nevar streaming into the Healing Wing of the palace..._

Steely blue eyes blearily opened, and then instantly closed against the light.

"Oh God, kill me noooooow" Leonard moaned as awareness returned, only for the King to be buffeted by the full force of the massive headache wracking his brain.

In addition to the pounding headache screeching behind his eyeballs, Len's mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton, while his throat just felt raw. A soft chuckle from somewhere above had Leonard groaning again as he slowly shoved himself up onto his elbows and forced his eyes open.

A quick glance around for his surroundings told Leonard that he was in the Healing Ward, and the person who had chuckled was a quietly relieved looking Harrison Wells standing at the foot of the bed.

" Ugh, Harrison, what happened?" Leonard asked as he sat up fully and rubbed at his eyes. His stomach was empty and wrenching lightly but the very thought of food was making Leonard want to hurl.

" What do you remember my King?" Harrison asked gently as he went to the nearby table and poured a glass of water, dropping in a spoonful of white powder that made the water fizz. As he turned to face Leonard and hand him the drink, Harrison watched as Leonard frowned in concentration before shaking his head.

" Not much, just that I was really angry about something but I can't even remember that." Leonard said flatly, wincing as he took a few sips of the fizz water.

The smile left Harrison's face as he grew serious as he spoke.

" You will forgive my bluntness your Majesty but you never did like a sugar coating. Yesterday you got drunk, not in the 'oh I am a little tipsy, where'd I put my sword' kind of drunk, but the kind of drunk where you holed yourself up in the former royal apartments, polished off nearly a whole bottle of Pyralis wine by yourself, completely passed out cold and would have been laying there for God knows how long if your husband hadn't found you and all but carried you in here, completely unconscious and all, kind of drunk."

Leonard gawked at Harrison in disbelief, he would have scoffed and thought his Chief Advisor and Healer was joking where it not for the completely dead serious look on Wells' face.

Swallowing and trying to wrap his still well-addled brain around this revelation both about his own behavior and his husband's actions, Leonard looked about the room. Sensing Leonard's question before him King even ask, Harrison sighed.

" He's the one who made sure you didn't drown in all the alcohol you tossed back. He fed you some Cacepi to induce vomiting and it got rid of as much of the Pyralis as possible. After that he stayed up and kept vigil all night, wouldn't even let her Highness the Princess remain. I stayed up too and found him barely sitting up so I sent him up to the Royal Apartments to rest."

Leonard felt a massive surge of both warmth and mortification. Mortification for the worry he had caused his family, but the warmth was all for Barry. Leonard could not help but be impressed by his young husband's actions.

Leonard sent Wells a sheepish look.

" I am so sorry Harrison."

" Oh no, don't apologize to me, as your personal healer and the Chief Healer of this entire Palace, I was just doing my job, and while you did scare me, it wasn't nearly as bad as what you put your family through my King."

Len groaned and nodded at Wells' true words. About twenty minutes later Leonard was wondering just how deeply he had landed himself in the doghouse as he got dressed in a fresh set of simple attire that Ronnie had set out for him. His page had been relieved to see his King well and had said as such, but had otherwise remained as professional as ever.

Once Leonard was dressed he had it in mind to go and seek out Barry and Lisa immediately, no doubt they had been alerted that he was awake. But no sooner had he stepped out of the Healing Wing, one of the two most important people in his life came flying out of nowhere, tackling him in a spine-crunching hug.

" Sis I am so sorry." Leonard said softly as he hugged his sister back tightly.

" You better be, God, what the hell were you thinking drinking all of that shit?!" Lisa admonished as she lightly punched her big brother in the shoulder with a moderate amount of force.

" I wish I knew, it's all kinda blank right now." Leonard replied in all honesty as he rubbed his shoulder as they started walking down the main hallway. His baby sister really could pack a punch.

" Well, you better remember fast before you go see Barry. He wouldn't tell me anything but he sure looked pissed when he dragged your unconscious ass out of Mick's wing." Lisa said in warning.

Leonard felt his already aching gut clench a little at that. If it were possible Leonard felt even worse knowing that in addition to scaring his sister he'd scared Barry to where the younger man had gotten angry enough for Lisa to comment.

Lisa and Leonard parted ways once they reached the halfway point, Lisa heading off to her personal apartments with Caitlyn. The young lady had stopped to wish her king well and share a peck with Ronnie. Leonard couldn't help but feel a small spike of envy as he had watched the simple display of affection between spouses, but he had plastered on a smile and nodded to Caitlyn as she had passed before he and Ronnie headed up the rest of the way to the royal marital apartments.

Once there Leonard dismissed Ronnie, answering in the negative when the other man asked if he should bring up a light breakfast for the King. Once Ronnie was gone Leonard steeled himself for whatever he would face on the other side of the doors to the home he shared with Barry. Leonard stepped into an empty living room area, but he was expecting as such after what Harrison had told him, so he shuffled over towards the bedroom doors. He paused here, feeling quietly nervous even though he was expecting his young husband to be asleep.

 _" Here goes nothing."_ Leonard thought before he turned the knob and quietly pushed the door away.

The moment his eyes fell on the room, all nervousness turned into confusion, for all that greeted him was an empty, perfectly made bed, and no husband to greet and apologize to. Leonard let out the breath he had been subconsciously holding, but then he frowned in confusion. Thinking maybe Barry was in the bathroom Leonard quickly crossed the room to check, only to find it just as deserted.

Wondering where his husband had gone, Len did the only thing he could think of. He pulled the bell to summon the person who could tell him where Barry was. A few minutes later Leonard looked up from where he was standing by one of the arched windows when the doors to the royal apartments opened and Cisco stepped in, dressed immaculately and smiling when his eyes landed upon him.

" Good morning your Majesty, I am relieved to see you're up." Cisco said with a small bow, Len sending him a smile and a nod before he grew serious and got to the point.

" Cisco, where's Barry? Harrison told me he'd sent him straight here to rest after last night but I get up here and he is no where to be found."

Cisco just shook his head, frowning a little before he answered.

" Oh he just went out for a ride, he came down to the stables about half an hour ago, saddled up Speedy and took off for the woods."

Leonard nodded and then dismissed Cisco.

Strange, according to everyone Barry hadn't slept at all last night. Instead of snoring away in bed, the young man had gone of for a ride? Truly very odd, but Leonard quickly shook himself of such thoughts and lingered into the living room for a bit, trying to figure out just what exactly he would say to Barry when his beautiful husband would come in from his morning ride.

Leonard then decided that a bath was in order since he had spent the previous night in the Healing Wing. Just as he was heading over to the bedroom to pick out some closes, a light glint caught the corner of Len's eye. When he turned his head and his eyes fell on the shiny object where it was resting on the large circular table in the center of the living room, Leonard stopped dead in his tracks.

Then with his eyes slowly widening in recognition and his heart starting to pound almost clear out of his chest, Leonard was moving forward, almost like he was in a trance. When he reached the table Leonard stared down at the object with his disbelief turning into horror.

For there resting on top of a folded piece of paper was the slightly smaller companion to the wedding band that adorned Leonard's own left ring finger. Feeling his breath start to come in short, thing bursts, Leonard lashed out and snatched up the ring, wondering why it was not on the hand of his husband where it belonged. Then his eyes fell on the piece of paper. Grabbing it up, Leonard unfolded it and read its contents.

By the time he read the last of the words, Leonard's eyes had widened to the size of dinner-plates as he let out a strangled yell, the paper, which was now revealed to him to be a letter falling from his numb fingers on one hand while the other fisted Barry's wedding band tightly as the king hunched over the table.

As he stood there, everything from yesterday returned with stark, and brutal clarity.

From Roscoe Dillon and James Jesse's crude and cruel words of mocking gossip, the burning rage their vulgar words about Barry and Mick had caused, how he had thrown all responsibility out the window and grabbed the bottle of Pyralis wine and holed himself up in the empty bedroom where Mick had succumbed to the fever. He remembered Barry coming in, how bravely he had stood his ground even when Leonard had yelled at the top of his lungs. But the absolute worst memory that assaulted Leonard's now starkly clear mind was of what had said to Barry right before he had passed out.

He had said to his husband's face that he needed to make Barry leave and go back to Central Kingdom.

Leonard stood up with a shaky breath and a pained noise, disgust and horror at what he had done to Barry, to his family, washing over him.

Leonard reeled back in fresh horror as it dawned on him that Barry hadn't gone out for a morning ride half an hour ago.

Half an hour ago his husband had basically left Nevar, and him, thinking that this was what Leonard wanted. Taking in a shuddering breath, Leonard ran to the window he was at earlier, the one that overlooked the woods, his horrified blue eyes taking in the hundreds of miles of lush green evergreen trees. Then he lifted his hand and opened it, staring at the ring he was holding, looking dulled and empty as it was bereft of its rightful wearer.

" Oh my God no." Leonard whispered softly.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

(Author's note: Please try listening to " First Snow" off of the soundtrack to the movie 'The Fountain')

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Chapter 8

Len sat and hyperventilated as the sheer enormity of what happened crashed over him like an unmerciful tidal wave. But just as quickly, Len used all of the will he had in his body to force the panic back as he rose from the chair he had collapsed into, all effects of the hangover forgotten as he all but ran into his and Barry's bedroom, clutching Barry's wedding band tightly in his fist. As fast as he could Len but on clothes that were suitable from riding before he ducked into his changing suite and fished out a simple chain from the box in which he kept small jewelry. With great care and feeling his heart cracking, Len threaded the wedding band onto the chain and then wore it quickly around his neck, doing up the clasp and tucking the ring under the collar of his jacket. Then, steeling his heart Len ducked into Barry's changing suite, rummaging around everything that had been left there before he pulled out one of his husband's sleeping shirts. Clenching his jaw, Len ripped one of the sleeves clear off, carefully rolling it up and putting it away in one of his pockets before he made his way out of the bedroom.

Barry's note, which turned out to be his goodbye letter lay forgotten on the floor as Len quickly strode out of the royal apartments. Len did his best to remain calm and walk as such down the halls, he would rush whenever there was no one in site but as he made his way outside, the King forced himself to walk calmly and plaster on a pleasant expression as he made his way to the royal stables. As he walked it felt like his very soul was on fire with the guilt and shame of what he had done to his husband. Len had to quickly shake himself of such thoughts as he greeted the stable attendants and asked for his horse, Borealis to be saddled, explaining that he had heard that his husband had gone off for his morning ride and wished to join Barry.

As he did his best to wait calmly, Leonard called over one of the other stable attendants and asked that the man go to the royal kennels and bring out Lincoln, a young bloodhound who may have been the newest addition, but was the best tracker in the King's hunting pack. Every minute Len had to wait was sheer agony, but before long Borealis was being brought out to him freshly saddled while the attendant who had been sent to the kennels appeared with the dog in question, a lovely black and tan young dog with floppy ear, dark eyes, and an ever wagging tail.

Len mounted up and instructed the attendants to tell anyone who came looking to tell them that he had gone for his usual morning ride. He then urged Borealis into a light trot and headed off towards the gate that led to the great every-green forrest with Lincoln running faithfully beside him. Len kept up this sedate pace until he was sure that he was completely out of sight and in the clear from the guards that were posted at the gate. Len then smoothly dismounted and called Lincoln to him.

" Come here boy, come here!" He said with veined joviality. Lincoln barked and trotted up to Leonard before sitting in front of the quietly desperate king as he was trained to do.

" I have something for you." Len said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the sleeve from Barry's sleeping shirt. He help it out to the bloodhound who naturally began sniffing at the offering curiously.

" Smell it good boy, then we can go find Barry. You wanna go find Barry?" Len said, keeping his voice light and allowing the hound to focus on the scent.

" Help me find Barry Linc." Len said before he drew away and stepped back towards Borealis. The Friesian stallion pawed lightly at the dirt as Len watched Lincoln get to work, the dog sniffing both the air and the ground trying to find the scent trail.

As he looked around all of the green that surrounded him, Len was doing everything he could to keep the despair at bay, for the forest was dense and spanned many miles, Barry was on Speedy, who was by far the faster horse, and Len was in it by himself with only Lincoln to aid him in finding his husband. Len was broken out of his dark worry when Lincoln let out a sharp bark and knelt down in the position of play, indication that he had caught the scent and was ready to begin the hunt, just like he had been trained to do.

" Good boy!" Len shouted with hope rising up inside him as he quickly mounted Borealis.

" Go find Barry Linc!" He then shouted. Lincoln needed no more prompting as with another bark he was taking off down the main trail. Len urged Borealis into a gallop and followed after.

Linc ran along the main path for a good ten minutes before he veered off the beaten path, heading down the most twisted and turning path that lay within the forest. Len couldn't help but give his young husband credit, the man was being very smart about his impromptu departure from Nevar.

As he rode deeper into the forrest along the winding trail, Len finally allowed the words of Barry's letter that he had been holding back to finally was over him and burn him to his very core like acid. The letter had read thus.

 ** _Your Majesty King Leonard Snart,_**

 ** _By the time you get this letter, I will be long gone, on my way back to my homeland of Central Kingdom. I do not know how much you remember from yesterday, but in your drunken stupor you finally revealed your truth to me. You have made your feelings clear regarding where I stand._**

 ** _I know how much you still love Mick Rory, my predecessor and your first husband. I never held it against you and told you as such. Before yesterday I was the happiest man in Nevar, not because of my title as Prince Consort or the fact that I am royalty, I was happy because I thought that I was finally a part of the Snart family, that beside being your husband, I was also your friend. Yesterday revealed to me the truth._**

 ** _I am not your family, and I am not even your friend._**

 ** _Your words to me in the former royal apartments made it clear to me that you still question why I married you. It showed me that my explanation, that I married you because I saw your heart, we not enough for you. You still don't trust me after all of these months that we have been married._**

 ** _I thought that I was doing an okay job of being your husband, and being Prince Consort to your kingdom. But it is clear to me now that I will never measure up. It must be,_** ** _because why else would you want me to leave?_**

 ** _Your words have shown me that I have failed you as a husband, failed you as a friend. You told me on our wedding night that I was insane for agreeing to marry you without every actually meeting you, and as I said, you didn't believe me when I told you my reason for marrying you._**

 ** _But you were right all along my king, I was insane, not for marrying you, but for ever thinking that I could ever have any kind of chance with you._**

 ** _We can go through whatever legal channels we have to, to officially break the bonds we entered into, but I have burdened you enough and therefore wholly and truly free you from me Leonard._**

 ** _I take with me nothing save for my father's sword, my mother's ring, and coin to help me along my journey back to Central Kingdom. I return to you all of the gifts you have bestowed on me, but also insist that you keep the gifts I have given to you as tokens of my goodwill. I will even return Speedy to you once I reach Central Kingdom if you so wish._**

 ** _Give Lisa my love, I will always consider her my sister, and to Mark, Ronnie, and Caitlyn for being such good attendants, but even better friends to me. And to Lord Harrison Wells as well, because he is the best teacher I have ever known. I leave Cisco to make his own choices regarding where he wishes to be for he is my best friend more than anything else._**

 ** _I wish you long life and peace, so goodbye my husband of half a year. I really do wish things had turned out differently between us._** ** _Be that as it may, and while it makes my heart die, as your husband I can still do this much for you._**

 ** _I Bartholomew Henry Allen, Prince of Central Kingdom, do hereby renounce my title as Prince Consort of Never and release you, Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, King of Nevar, from the bonds of marriage._**

 ** _Be well my_** ** _lov- My King_**

 ** _Barry_**

As he rode over the dirt trail, Len felt the fiery shame and guilt flare up within him as he remembered his own drunken stupidity, and how he had told Barry to his face that he needed to make him leave. Len could not believe he had been so idiotic to where he now had his innocent husband thinking that he wanted him gone from his life entirely.

 _" I don't want you to leave Kid, that is the **last** thing I want."_ Len thought as he rode onward following after Lincoln, and if there were glistening trailed being carved into his face by fresh salt from his eyes, he didn't even bother wiping them away.

As he rode, Len could not help but also realize something else. Something subtle, but no less monumental in the force with which it hit Len. In Barry's letter, at the very end, he had started to write the words "My Love" before he had crossed it out and wrote the words "My King". Love, Barry loved him. The revelation made Len burn even more with just how badly he had messed you.

" God I am so sorry Barry." Len whispered as he urged Borealis ever onward down the winding trail.

Len did not know for how long he rode down the winding and twisting trail, it could have been for minutes, could have been for hours, he just kept going until Lincoln finally led him towards something familiar.

" Linc, stand down!" Len called, making the bloodhound come to a stop and lay down on the ground. The dog was panting lightly from all the running and Borealis was breathing a little hard under Leonard.

Up ahead, Len knew that the trail would lead to the quiet and calm shores of the lake that lay in the center of the great evergreen forest, a lake that was named after his late mother Constantina. It was inexplicable and Len ran the risk of being completely wrong, but something in his heart was telling him that the shores of Lake Constantina were where he need to be right now.

Steeling his nerves, Len dismounted and gripped Borealis' reigns, lightly beckoning for Lincoln to follow as he walked towards the end of the train and onto the sandy, damp shores of the lake.

The lake was a pristine cerulean blue, the waters calm and almost mirror like as they reflected the soft white clouds up above in the sky. The waters lapped lazily at the shore, and it was all greatly beautiful. But Leonard's eyes were not taking in the beautiful scenery, instead they were traveling up the shore, searching silently. Leonard then felt his heart skip a beat as a familiar thoroughbred stallion with a shining red coat and glassy black mane and tail caught his eyes, grazing peacefully on a patch of grass by the lake shore. It was Speedy.

But it was when Leonard turned his gaze towards the shore a few feet away from the grazing horse that he felt his heart freeze completely inside his chest. There sitting on a large gray boulder by the shore was a familiar tall, brown haired individual. It took everything Leonard hard not to just run across the sand and get to the husband he had been so desperately searching for. Instead Len forced himself to walk forward calmly and take in the sight of his husband.

Barry was the picture of utter dejection sitting on that rock. Dressed in light leather traveling clothes more fit for a commoner than a Prince Consort, the younger man sat hunched with a defeated curve to his spine. As Len drew closer, he felt his heart clench at the pale and drawn quality to Barry's face. There were slight circles under Barry's eyes, clear sign that he had not slept; in addition, Len was pained to see that those hazel green eyes that had always held a smile in them were now dull and red-rimmed, clear indication that Barry had also been crying, a lot.

When Len happened to let his eyes wanted down to Barry's lap, he felt his teetering heart crumble further as he saw that Barry was cradling his left hand in his right, his fingertips rubbing at his empty left ring finger. Unconsciously Len reached up and pressed his right hand over his heart, pressing the wedding ring Barry was missing, to his heart through his jacket.

Len wanted to do many things, like yell out Barry's name, run to his poor husband, fall to his knees before Barry and apologize till he was blue in the face, but most of all he just wanted the ground to swallow him whole as he stared at his utterly bereft husband. Barry was so lost in his misery, he didn't even notice Len approaching. But before Len could stop him, Lincoln let out a loud, happy bark upon seeing the target he had ben tracking. Barry startled badly and turned sharply in the direction of the noise. Everything seemed to freeze as Barry's tear reddened eyes finally fell on Len. In that first moment Len watched as surprise and then naked joy filled Barry's face, a relieved looking smile starting to spread across his face, but just as quickly as it had come, the joy and the smile faded away into a frigidness that Len had never, ever seen before on Barry's countenance and never hoped to see again. Something violently shuttered behind Barry's hazel green eyes, and it was signal enough of just how badly Len had screwed up.

Len forced himself to meet that cold, cold gaze before Lincoln happily bound forward with another eager bark, catching Barry's attention and finally making him look away. Len watched as the coldness melted away into warm in Barry's eyes as the young prince gracefully jumped down from his seat upon the boulder and stepped forward to greet the bloodhound that was running towards him. Barry took a knee and held his arms open, Lincoln all but pouncing on top of him and showering his face with tender licks.

If ever there was a time that Len found himself feeling honest to God jealous of a dog, it was watching Barry smiling and petting Lincoln warming, rubbing and scratching at the bloodhound's wrinkly belly. A tug on Len's hand had him turning to see Borealis pawing at the sandy dirt. Taking a moment to stroke his hand over the stallion's powerful neck and also steady his nerves, Len let go of Borealis' reigns and gave him a light push in Speedy's direction. Borealis ambled off towards the grass patch and neighed lightly in greeting. Speedy looked up from his grazing and neighed back, stepping forward and touching his velvety muzzle to Borealis'. The pair of stallions nuzzled at each other, greeting each other far more warmly then their riders before Borealis joined Speedy in grazing on the lakeside grass.

Taking in a deep breath, Len stepped forward to where Barry and Lincoln were. The moment he was close and Barry noticed him, Len watched as the smile vanished from Barry's features and his expressive eyes closed off. As Barry ushered Lincoln to go off and play before standing up to his full high, Len licked his suddenly dry lips and forced himself to speak.

" B-Barry I'm-" He began to say when Barry smoothly cut him off.

" I am pleased to see that you are on your feet and looking no worse for wear your majesty. I was under the impression that after everything that happened yesterday, you be asleep for most of the day."

The formal, detached quality of Barry's voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Leonard, and the fact that Barry was calling him 'you majesty' just made the feeling worse.

" Barry, God I am so sorry for what happened yesterday, I wasn't thinking straight and-" Len began to say when Barry just shook his head and cut him off, a humorless smile curving up the corners of his lips.

" Don't be sorry my King, you may have drank enough Peralis wine to turn your liver into a shriveled up raisin, and scared me to death, but at least I finally got to know just where I stand with you regarding our relationship." Barry said, his voice taking on a soft, deadly quality veiled beneath a pleasant tone as he gestured between them.

" There isn't one, not even of friendship. I mean, why else would you want me to leave, go back to Central Kingdom and be with my _family._ "

Len felt his heart finally shatter at these words, they were the farthest thing from the truth about how he felt, but from the looks of things, Barry whole-heartedly believed them. It would have been better if Barry had been yelling, because there was something truly and utterly terrifying about that soft, deadly quality in Barry's voice. It was enough to make Len want to cower away in a corner, but instead Len forced himself to hold that glacial gaze.

Shaking his head, Len stepped closer so that he was about an arm's length.

" I don't want you gone Barry, that is the very last thing I want." He said as he reached up to cup Barry's cheek. It turned out to be the wrong move as Barry bared his teeth in a snarly and jerked back before Len was even halfway to reaching him, the coldness turning molten hot and unforgiving in his hazel green eyes, turning them almost black as he finally erupted.

" Don't you DARE touch me you lying asshole!" Barry roared, loud enough to make both Speedy and Borealis startle while Lincoln whined softly and curled up into a ball with his tail between his legs.

Fully glaring now and with his jay quivering, Barry whirled away and started walking towards where the horses were.

" Where are you going?" Len said, walking fast in Barry's wake.

" What the fuck's it to you?" Barry growled as he glared balefully at his husband over his shoulder. Len found himself growing a little angry as well as he lunged forward and seized Barry by the wrist.

" You're not going anywhere Kid!" He said loudly.

With a snarl Barry wrenched his hand free from Len, shoving his husband before backing away.

" The Hell I'm not!" Barry yelled as he tried to keep moving towards Speedy. Len stepped in his path and tried to grab hold of Barry again, the other man backing up and dodging out of the way. Seeing this, Len quickly formed and idea and began making more attempts to grab at his irate husband.

His plan was to guide Barry away from the horses and back towards the boulder. Barry, in his enraged state caught on too late that he was being corralled as he found himself backed up against the boulder he had been sitting on, Len cutting off his escape by bracketing him on either side with his arms.

Barry reached up and pressed his hands to Len's solid chest, trying his best to push Len away with an unhappy growl. Len held fast and stayed firm, not allowing Barry to shove him away again as he spoke.

" Barry, Barry please, just listen to me. Just listen!" He yelled. Barry tried in vain to still shove Len off before he finally gave up with a frustrated cry.

Glaring angrily, Barry turned his face away and refused to look at Len. Len did his best to remain composed as he spoke.

" Barry please, just let me explain. You're right, I did act like a complete idiot, I did say those things, but I didn't mean them like you think I do." A humorless smirk spread across Barry's face, while his eyes were almost black with anger as he spoke, finally turning to look at Len, searing him with just a scathing look.

" You know I was going to just ride out of here, use the most complicated trails for a while before I found my way back to the main road and went back to Central from there. You are really fucking lucking that Speedy got thirsty and wanted a drink of water."

Len nodded, taking a moment to look to the side as see where the red stallion in question was playfully nipping at Borealis' rump, planning on making sure that Speedy would be getting the extra special honeyed oats at the stables for as long as the horse lived, before he turned back to meet Barry's searing gaze.

" You want to explain things? Then by all means, explain yourself your majesty."

Taking in a deep breath, Len began to explain everything, from the conversation he had overheard between Roscoe Dillon and James Jesse, the crude, disgusting things those two had said, to how it made him almost blind with rage, and how instead of going to anyone he had grabbed a bottle of the strongest wine they had in the cellars and holed himself up in the former apartments to drink himself into forgetting.

By the end of Len's explanation, he watched with a sinking heart and actual fear pooling in his stomach as Barry's entire face literally went gray. His eyes were wide, the left one was actually twitching slightly, and he was dead silent as he stared at Len. Then Barry took in a slow breath and spoke, his voice deadly soft again.

" You mean to tell me that you, the king of this entire place, my husband of six whole fucking months, allowed the gossip of two washed up old men to get under your skin so badly that you nearly drank yourself to death like a complete moron?" He asked.

Len did his best not to duck his head as the shame washed over him, Barry's gaze making him feel all of about five inches tall despite the fact that there were both over six feet in height and Barry was only an inch taller than him.

" Barry I'm so sorry." Len said desperately, feeling his eyes start to burn as the full weight of what he had caused, and what could have happened crashed over him.

" Why didn't you just come to me, or to Lisa, Hell even Cisco would have been there for you?" Barry asked, anger giving way to confusion for a moment as he was having a very hard time processing his husband's actions.

Len could only shrug and shake his head in self-loathing.

" I was an idiot, everything those two said, every _disgusting_ thing just made me want to tear everything apart. I wasn't thinking straight." Barry's face crumbled for a moment and Len felt hope that he had gotten through, but then Barry's face was hardening again as he glared at his husband with hard eyes.

" Still doesn't change the fact that you want me gone, you said so yourself that I need to leave, Hell, that you were ben going to make me leave." Barry said through gritted teeth.

" No Barry, no I don't want you to go anywhere." Len said immediately. Barry just snorted in disbelief.

" You said it to my face Len, what is any husband supposed to think when their husband says what you said?"

" Barry, I didn't mean it like that." Len said, trying to find the right words.

" Then what the ever loving fuck did you mean?!" Barry shouted as he shoved at Len.

" You had a life back in Central Kingdom, and good life, with people like Joe, Iris, and Eddie who all love you so much. I just want what's best for you." Len explained.

" And you think booting me back to Central Kingdom is it? What the fuck is wrong with you Len?" Barry shouted before he seized Len by the collar of his jacket, pulling him in close so that there were mere inches separating their faces as he spoke.

" Why did you say those things to me Len? I thought you finally believed me about my reasons for marrying you, so why Len?" Barry growled. Len swallowed, his throat tightening up painfully as he spoke.

" Because I don't know how I could get so luck a second time." He said, meaning every word as at last, the tears that Len had been valiantly holding back spilled free. Taking in a deep breath, Len continued.

" I only wanted what was best for you Barry, and I know that I'm not it but-" he began to say, but the rest of his sentence was cut off and Barry let out a strangled shout and gave Len an almighty shove, finally dislodging then from the boulder by a few feet. Len barely kept himself from falling backward as an enraged Barry advanced on his, seizing him the front of his jacket and pulling him in close as he spoke.

" _I_ decide _who_ or _what_ is best for _me_. I gave you my reason for marrying you. I know that you won't ever stop loving Mick and I was okay with that. I didn't come here to gain some title or stupid trade relations, I came here because I saw your heart through how you saved my sister's life and I knew that you were the kind of man I wanted to share the rest of my life with." Barry said, his own angry veneer finally cracking as tears began to gather in his eyes.

" I didn't do anything special when I sent Mark to Central Kingdom with that medicine, it was just the right thing to do, I couldn't let all of you go through what I went through, knowing that I had a way of saving her. That was all I did, I don't fucking deserve someone like you for that. " Len said quietly. It served only to incense Barry yet again as with a low growl he pulled Len around and shoved him backwards, pressing him back against the boulder and getting right in his face with a snarl.

" Six months, _six fucking months_ I have been your husband, faithful and true just like I vowed I would be on the day we were married. Would I have done so, spent all that time on you if I didn't think that you were good enough, that you deserved to be with me?" Barry gritted out before he reached up and shoved his fingertips against Len's temple, making the other man flinch.

" What else do I have to do to make you understand that I am here with you because I want to be, you IDIOT!" Barry yelled at the top of his lungs.

" I get it now Barry, I do." Len said as he reached up again towards Barry.

With a cold look Barry shook his head and let go of Len, stepping away before his husband could touch him.

" That's good, that's great. You're probably just saying that because you feel bad that you hurt the bastard usurper's feelings, you don't mean any of it." Barry said, even though it made him feel like he heart was being ripped in half.

" What? No, no Barry that's not true!" Len yelled desperately.

" Actions speak louder, and it is clear to me that I am not your family, you don't even think of me as a friend. But like and _idiot_ , I actually thought that we had a chance, that you and me could make this work. But I see clearly now, there is no point to it, I can't fight against a shadow, memories of the one who did everything right, the one everyone wants, including you."

" Barry no, you're wrong." Len began, feeling his heart shatter as he watched the tears finally fall from Barry's eyes. But Barry reach dup and stubbornly wiped away the salt as he spoke, his eyes hardening again.

" If it is all the same to you, your majesty. This farce has gone on long enough, I thank you for indulging me but like I said in my letter, I have released you from these bond, I am putting an end to this travesty."

Hearing these words, this awful, awful words made something snap inside Len. With a snarl of his own Len surged forward, seizing Barry by his jacket collar and getting right into his husband's face as he spoke.

" Don't you EVER call our marriage a farce or a travesty. We both stood up there and took those vows that day." Barry just stared at him, the anger slowly leaching away into this all consuming emptiness that literally stole the breath from Len's lungs.

Barry reached up and lightly gripped Len's wrists, pulling them off him and stepping back. Len watched as Barry composed his face into a look of fake pleasantness and politeness as he spoke.

" Like I said, it pleased me to see that you are up and about, so I guess I get to take my leave you and this kingdom in person your majesty." Barry said with that soft, detached tone that Len absolutely hated.

Len's mouth worked soundlessly, the man completely at a loss for words at what was happening right now.

" I thank you, Leonard Snart, for having indulged my preposterous belief in this sham of a marriage for as long as you have, but now I wish to burden you no further. Please allow me to take my leave of you and your kingdom." Barry said, going so far as to hold his hands out and bow formally, all the while visibly trying to keep his face from crumbling as his voice wavered at the end.

Then Barry straightened up and turned away. Len felt his pounding heart slam to a stop in his chest as he stood there rooted to the spot, watching as Barry was actually walking away from his life here in Nevar, from everything they had built together these last six month, but most of all from him. Len felt like his entire world was crumbling around him despite the scenic setting by the calm lake. Then he blinked, and snapped out of the paralysis that gripped him.

( Author's note: Please try listening to "Elizabeth Arrives to Court" from the soundtrack to 'The Tudors' Season 4)

" No!" Len yelled as he ran, he _ran_ as fast as he legs could carry him, closing the distance between himself and Barry. He seized Barry by the sleeve and pulled him around, lashing out and taking Barry's face into his hands in a death grip as he spoke.

" No Barry, I will not allow you to take your leave of me, of us, not now, not ever!" He shouted vehemently as the tears began to flow even harder. Barry made a half-hearted attempt to break free, but then his whole body seemed to slump in on itself, and he look so, so tired as he spoke.

" Why should I stay? What reasons do I have?" He asked quietly, the fiery anger from before utterly extinguished as he stood enervated in Len's grasp.

" You have many, many reasons. You are the Prince Consort of this realm, meant to rule at my side. You are not a usurper of any kind so I won't stand for you or anyone else calling you that. Save for a select few, this kingdom over which I am king adores you. Like you said, you didn't come here for the title, but you earned it all on your own just by being yourself." Len said softly as he blinked away the tears. Barry's eyes were swimming with fresh salt at this point, but they stubbornly refused to fall as Len continued.

" I will always love Mick, and I will miss him dearly, you know this. But... he's gone, he's been gone for five years. He would want me to move on and be happy. For _five years_ I have been all alone. Mick wasn't just my husband, he was my best friend, the one who ruled at my side and was always their to support me. The one who taught me how to laugh and live. When he died, all my happiness and hope died with him. It was like I set fire to the life I knew when I set fire to Mick's funeral pyre. All I was left with was the ashes. The only things that kept me from joining Mick in death were Lisa, and this kingdom. I was alive for her, for them, but I wasn't living like they were. To be honest, even they had a shadow over them because Mick was like this bright light, this fire that was there to warm, to guide, to love." Len broke off here with a small sob before he took in a deep breath and forced himself to continue.

" I had resigned myself to spending the rest of my life alone, with only memories and silent old room in the palace." Len found himself smiling as the memories of how he and Barry began started playing out in his mind.

" Then one day this twenty-five year old kid suddenly agrees to marry me, without ever even meeting me. Me, this washed up widower with almost twenty years of seniority over him. Barry, I will admit that I wanted nothing to do with you when I found out that you said yes to my proposal. I thought you weren't right in the head. But the moment you and I met, the moment I laid eyes on you, you reawakened something in me that I never thought I would ever feel again. You made me feel hope again, hope for the future."

It was here that Barry at last blinked and let the tears fall free again, carving trailed down his face as he let out a small sob and reach dup, gripping Len's wrists tightly.

" You have to stay because you are the reason why I am finally alive again. I wake up in the mornings beside you and I look forward to having breakfast with you. I love getting ready and wondering how gorgeous you'll look when you come out of your own room. Before you came I hadn't picked up a sword in years, but now I can't wait to get up before dawn so that I can teach you what I know. You make me laugh and smile, you make me remember that its the moments we share with each other that really matter, not the jewels or the new trade agreements. And it isn't just me, it's everyone. It's Mark, it's Caitlyn and Ronnie, it's Lisa, especially Lisa. You have made her so happy just by being her brother. There was a shadow over us Barry, this kind of ice that had all of us frozen in that one moment when Mick died, when the fire went out." Len then looked up at Barry with a watery smile.

" Then you came along out of no where one day, you just struck down like a lighten bolt and jolted us back to life, chased away the shadow with your smile, melted the ice by simply being yourself, your amazing, amazing self." He finished.

Barry ducked his head and sobbed quickly against Len's palms before his husband gently lifted his head so that they were eye to eye once more.

" You can't leave Barry because you are wrong, so wrong when you say that you don't have family here in Nevar. You are family, besides Cisco there's Ronnie and Caitlyn, and Mark and even Harrison, I've never seen him so happy as when he's teaching you and Cisco. They all consider you an important part of their lives. You are Lisa's New Brother, she adores you, you make her smile so much it could light up the whole kingdom. But most of all Barry, most of all you have become my family. Despite all those parts of me that were broken and didn't want to let you in, you found a way to fix so much of it, that I can't imagine spending another moment of my life without you. You are _my_ family Barry."

Barry bit his lip to keep it from trembling, his whole body shaking with silent sobs. Len was no better as he leaned in and pressed his forehead to Barry's.

" And there's one other reason why you have to stay, why I can't allow you to take your leave." Len said thickly. Barry took in a deep, rattling breath before he spoke.

" What reason Len, why should I stay?" He asked softly.

" You have to stay... Because I love you damn it, I love you Bartholomew Henry Allen." Barry felt the breath rush out of his body in a soft his as he screwed his eyes tightly shut, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him as Len's very important, life altering words washed over him. Len felt his own heart soar as he finally spoke the words he had up until this point been to afraid to say, thinking it best to deny rather than acknowledge.

There was a charged beat of silence before Len reached up and ran his thumbs under Barry's eyes, wiping away the tears as he spoke, Barry looking up at him.

" When Mick left me the way he did, dying from that fever before I could even do anything for him, I still survived it somehow, it didn't destroy me in the end and I kept going. But I can't do that with you Barry, I can't. I have fallen so deeply in love with you that I know that if I were to let you go right now, just let you ride off like you were planning, I wouldn't be able to take it, I'll die right here where I stand."

There was another beat of silence where Len and Barry just stared at each other, and then Barry spoke.

" God you are such a dumbass Len!" He said softly. Len let out a watery laugh as he pulled Barry to him, thrilled beyond words when Barry put up no resistance.

They hug each other tight enough to feel their ribs bending, and it went on for several long moments before Len drew back and promptly sealed his lips over Barry's. Barry was startled for a second before he melted against Len, kissing his husband back fervently. They broke apart with a gasp several moments later. Breathing hard, Len spoke.

" I have loved you ever since the moment we both reached for that same glass of wine at our reception." Barry smiled tearfully and nodded before he pulled Len back into a tight embrace.

" Oh me too, me too. God I love you Len, I love you so much." Barry said, professing his own feelings. Len felt a deep warmth spread through his whole body as he grinned from ear to ear.

Maybe this was what being on top of the world felt like.

As they stood their in each other's arms, there bodies trembling from everything that had gone down, Barry was the first to speak.

" I am still so fucking mad at you." He said quietly, because while he was ecstatic to know that his husband did indeed love him, it didn't erase what had happened yesterday.

" I know, I know Barry, be as mad at me as you want, just be here and be mad, don't go anywhere else, don't leave. Please don't leave me." Len said desperately.

" Never, I am not gonna go anywhere, I never wanted to leave you, but you said all those things." Barry sobbed.

" I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Len said before he kissed Barry again, putting as much of what he was feeling into that kiss, an apology, an balm for the hurt he had caused his innocent spouse. When they drew back, Barry spoke with a tearful smile.

" You are in so much deep shit." He said bluntly, to which Len let out a laugh and nodded his head vigorously.

" I know, wouldn't be the first time. I'll deal."

The way Len smiled at him had Barry leaning in and kissing his husband this time, slowly, sensuously, feeling like everything was righting itself slowly but surely. Len melted into the kiss, not getting enough of the feel of those soft lips and that intoxicating scent that was distinctly Barry's. When they finally drew back, Len took a moment to compose himself before he spoke, cupping Barry's tear stained cheek.

" I know that I am up shit's creek without a paddle, but I have a few demands I need to make from you Bartholomew Henry Allen." He said with this cheeky little smirk that had Barry grinning back.

" First off, that part of your letter, where you said that you release me from the bonds of marriage?" Len asked, a pained look flitting across his face while Barry closed his eyes and nodded before he opened them back up again.

" That never happened, got it?" Len concluded.

" Got it." Barry replied, laughing as he was kissed soundly for it. Then Len drew back a bit and reached for the chain around his neck, doing his best to keep his face from crumbling as he pulled Barry's ring out from under his jacket.

The look of realization, and then longing that spread over Barry's face when he could sight of his wedding ring almost did Len in, but the king kept his composure as he pulled the chain up over his head and undid the clasp, taking the ring of the chain and holding it up to the light as he spoke.

" Secondly." Len began as he stepped forward and gently took Barry's left wrist into his hand. He pulled Barry's hand up before continuing.

" This never comes off of your finger ever again. As you have seen the kind of idiot I can be, you will most definitely get mad at me again in the future, that is fine, you can curse me till you are blue in the face and stop talking to me all together, I'll take it." Len said with conviction as Barry chuckled. Then Len continued.

"But please husband, please don't ever take this off ever again." Len said quietly, desperately as he gently slid Barry's ring back onto his left ring finger, where it rightfully belonged.

Barry took a moment to gaze at his hand, the joy evident in his tearful eyes at having his wedding ring back on his finger before he looked back at his husband and nodded.

" I promise, it'll never come off again. Consider it welded on for life." Len threw his head back and laughed before he pulled Barry in for another breath taking kiss.

When they drew back, Len stayed close, pressing his forehead to Barry's as he spoke.

" And lastly, can I take you home now husband?" He asked softly. To this Barry drew back, a clear challenge in his eyes.

" Back to Central Kingdom?" He asked. Len just shook his head emphatically before he reached up and hooked his hand around the back of Barry's head, pulling his husband's head back down to press there foreheads together as he spoke.

" Central Kingdom is the place of your birth, it's were Joe, Iris, and Eddie reside and would welcome you back with open arms, it will always be your first home. But your _real home_ Bartholomew Henry Allen, your real home is with me, regardless of where we are, here or there, it's with me for as long as we both shall live." Len said with a hitched breath.

Fresh tears fell from Barry's eyes as he smiled back at Len. Taking a deep breath, Barry then nodded and spoke.

" Well then, you can take me home now, husband."

Len nodded wordlessly before he pulled Barry into a hug, one which Barry gladly returned. They stayed that way for a very long time, trading soft apologies for their mutual foolishness and sharing kisses and declarations of love. From where he sat, Lincoln the bloodhound simply tilted his head and eyed his human masters curiously before scratching at his floppy ears with his hind foot.

A little while later, the King and Prince Consort of Nevar were mounting their respective stallions and riding off side by side with Lincoln faithfully following. They bid farewell to the shores of Lake Constantina and headed back up the winding trail towards the Nevarian Palace. They rode together in comfortable silence, save for a few laughs here and there at Lincoln's playful antics along the trail.

It was when they were just about halfway back that the sound of fast approaching hooves had both Len and Barry looking to see who was coming down the trail towards them.

There riding atop his faithful dapple gray stallion was Mark Mardon, dressed in the military uniform he would wear when not in his armor. A look of deep relief spread across the general of Nevar's face when he caught sight of his king and prince consort as he pulled up before them.

" Your majesties, do forgive my bluntness but, where the Hell have you both been? My King, it has been nearly three and a half hours since you told the stable attendants that you would be riding into the forest to join his highness for a ride. Her highness the Princess has become frantic, she dispatched me to try and find you." Mark explained.

Barry and Len shared a mutual look of mortification before they both turned apologetic eyes to Mark. It was Len who spoke.

" We are so sorry Mark, we didn't mean for any of you to worry. We were at the Queen Mother's lake and lost track of time." Len explained before he turned to Barry and held his gaze.

" There were some important things me and my husband needed to discuss."

Mark nodded and remained silent, it wasn't lost on him that both his king and Prince Consort looked like they had been through the wringer twice and then ground up fro good measure. The both of them looked absolutely drained, but otherwise alright.

" Is everything well my king?" He asked.

" Everything is well enough. But I now have a husband that I need to take back home, so please lead the way my general." Len said with all seriousness.

Mark sat up straighter in his saddle before he bowed his head, professionalism taking over concern.

" As you wish my King." Mark said just as formally before he turned his stallion and urged the powerfully built animal into a light gallop. Len and Barry both urged Borealis and Speedy into light gallops as well, following in Mark's wake as the trio headed back up the trail, Lincoln running along side them.

With their horses, the three made quick work of getting through the many twists and turns before they finally reached the main trail, which was thankfully straight and would lead them right back to the castle. As they rode, Len and Barry couldn't help but dread what was probably awaiting them back at the palace, because if there was one thing more terrifying than anything else in Nevar, it was an angry and scared Lisa Snart.

As the palace came into view, Barry felt his heart soar despite his apprehension, for he had honestly believed that when he had ridden out earlier in the morning, it was for the very last time, and that he would never see the palace or its people ever again.

They all slowed their horse down to a trot as he crossed the threshold of the gate back onto the palace ground, the soldiers stationed throughout bowing and saluting in respect. Both Barry and Len nodded in acknowledgment on this before they followed Mark to the royal stables.

Sure enough, Lisa was there waiting for them, and she wasn't along, for standing beside her was Harrison Wells. A few feet behind these two stood Cisco, Caitlyn, and Ronnie. All of them did not look too pleased as Barry and Len pulled up.

As Barry and Len both dismounted, Lisa was on them. Her shrill cries actually scare an entire flock of birds out of nearby tree, Barry and Len both holding back winces as she tore into them with the best. But despite how angry she was, Lisa was also deeply relieved to see both her brother and brother in law safely returned and unharmed as she seized them both into her arms and hugged them hard.

"Don't you ever do something so stupid again. You nearly sent the entire palace into a panic. And after all the crap that happened yesterday, what the hell are either of you doing up and riding anyway?" Lisa asked sternly. Before Barry and Len could reply, Harrison, looking more angry than either of them had every seen him stepped forward, pinning them with his unhappy blue eyes as he spoke.

" Her majesty is absolutely right, what were either of you thinking?" Harrison asked before he turned his gaze onto Leonard.

" My king, yesterday you drank some of the strongest alcohol we have in stock and then had to throw most of it back up so that you didn't get alcohol poisoning. I only just released you from the Healing Wing this morning." Len did his best not to cower under Harrison's stern gaze. Then Wells turned his eyes to Barry.

" And you my Prince, you just about ran yourself ragged last night taking care of his majesty, you didn't get even the barest wink of sleep last night." Barry nodded guiltily, doing his best not to scuff at the grown with his foot like a child. Wells then addressed them both.

" I wouldn't deem the two of you fit to walk properly let alone go riding." Harrison declared as he crossed his arms.

" We're really sorry Harrison." Len said, Barry nodding in agreement. Harrison shook his head while Lisa, Cisco, Caitlyn, and Ronnie all looked and Barry and Len with their own levels of concern and annoyance.

" No, you'll be even sorrier if you stay on your feet for one second longer. King and Prince Consort you may be, as personal physician to you both, I still get to order you around, especially when you show me just how much you disregard your own health, so listen up." Barry and Len found themselves standing up a little straighter as they waited for Wells to speak.

" I have it on good authority that in addition to going out in your respective conditions of hungover and sleep deprived, neither of you even had any breakfast this morning to boot. So here's whats going to happen, the both of you are going to go upstairs and bathe, and in that time Cisco and Ronnie will come up with lunch, which you will both eat in its entirety. After that you will both go to bed and not come down for the rest of the day, no official state business, not healing lessons, Hell, neither of you are going to even open a book, do I make myself clear?"

Barry and Len found five sets of eyes leveled on them and shared a look, doing their best to keep from smiling as they bowed their heads slightly, they were royals after all, and spoke in perfect unison.

" Yes Lord Wells."

The air instantly shifted as the corner of Harrison's mouth twitched, as though he were fighting the urge to smile, his eyes losing some of their anger. Cisco was pursing his lips and barely holding it together, while Ronnie was looking off to the side and Caitlyn had her gaze upward, suddenly finding the sky very interesting. Lisa's eyes had lost much of their anger, and if they looked closely Barry and Len could see that she was most likely biting the inside of her cheek. Mark was the only one who didn't bother to hide his mirth, grinning widely as he scratched a happy Lincoln's behind his floppy ears, it wasn't every day that he got to see his King and Prince Consort get scolded like a pair of naughty children. Keeping a stern look on his face, Harrison nodded.

" Good, now go and do as I told you and don't even think about trying to duck out because I'll know." He said, putting enough menace in his voice for Len and Barry to know that the Chief Advisor and Healer was not playing.

Barry and Len both gave Lisa hugs and kissed her on the cheek apologetically before Barry reached over and took Len's hand into his own. With a pair of nods to Harrison, Barry lead Len away, the royal couple walking hand in hand towards the palace.

Lisa watched this a bit stunned, and a look around told her that the others were just as surprised, for while Barry and Len were known to be comfortable with each other, this was the first time that they were ever scene walking hand in hand. As she watched her brother and brother in law disappear inside the palace, Lisa knew that something truly big had gone down between them, and she would get some answers. She wasn't a princess and head of a guild for nothing.

With that, Lisa, Harrison, Caitlyn, Ronnie, and Cisco dispersed to go take care of things.

Barry and Len made their way up to the royal apartments, the sheer exhaustion of everything they had gone through today finally catching up to them. When they reached the apartments, Len ordered a fresh bath to be drawn, instructing the servants to put in everything that Barry usually used, those two soaps and spearmint oil, while Barry collapse in a nearby sofa. As he shuffled about the living room, Len's eyes fell on the demure piece of folded white paper that had nearly shattered everything. Picking it up, Len went over to a nearby candle that was burning. Barry watched him go and met his husband's gaze head on, watching with silent approval as Len promptly burned the letter till it was nothing but twisted black ash in his hand. Len then tossed the charred mess into a nearby dustbin and made his way over to Barry and took a seat beside his husband, going so far as to wrap his arm around the younger man's shoulders and pull him in close. Barry smiled tiredly at gesture and stayed close as they waited for the bath to be drawn.

A few minutes later the bath was ready and Len dismissed the servants before he and Barry ducked inside the bathroom. The two of them were so tired and worn out that they couldn't even be bothered to get embarrassed as they stripped out of their clothes in from of each other. The bath was hot and soothing as they both soaked in the scent laced water together, Barry feeling the full exhaustion of his sleepless and tension filled night before, while Len's hangover came roaring back, albeit with only a mild headache and not the cranium splitter he had woken up with. Even though they were naked in front of each other for the first time, all Len and Barry did was wash off the day, wiping at each other's backs with sponges and sharing a few chaste kisses before they climbed out and dried themselves.

Both of the royals were dead on their feet, but a loud, prominent growl from Len's stomach had all thought of sleep fading to the background, for they were both utterly famished. Barry and Len were quick as they made their way out of the bathroom and across the living room into their bedroom. The parted from each other to duck into their respective changing suits to get out their sleeping clothes, but Len found himself blushing bright red when Barry came out dressed in loose sleeping pants, and a sleeping shirt that just so happened to be missing a sleeve.

" I had to give Lincoln something to track you." Len said in explanation.

" Small price to pay I guess." Barry said with a small smile before he ducked back into the changing suit to put on a different shirt and toss the ruined one.

When Len and Barry emerged from their bedroom dressed for bed and wearing their robes, they were glad to see Cisco and Ronnie waiting for them in the livingroom, at the small table by the window were the royal couple often ate privately. On the table there were two trays laden with food. As Barry and Len eager sat down they saw that one tray had roast beef sandwiches while the had a chicken stew. As they began to eat, Len and Barry were regaled by Ronnie and Cisco about what happened at the palace while they were at the lake.

When Lisa had found out that Barry and Len had both gone out, she had gone straight to Wells and told him. It was the closest anyone had every seen the usual calm and reserved advisor come to blowing a gasket. Lisa and Wells had teamed up to keep things calm. After Barry and Len's absence had gone on for nearly four hours, Lisa had sent Cisco to get Mark and quietly bring him up to Lisa's office, where she had instructed the general to ride out along the most twisting trail, thinking that maybe Barry had gotten lost and Len had gone looking for him. Mark had done as instructed and here they were.

Barry and Len felt absolutely awful for the panic they had caused, but also grateful that Lisa and Wells kept things under control and prevented a full blown panic from erupting throughout the palace. Since Len's stomach was still a little tender from yesterday's unpleasantness, he let Barry take care of the sandwiches while he had most of the stew. They ate everything on their plates, truly grateful to have something in their bellies at last. Once they were done, Barry got up and hugged Cisco while Len clasped arms with Ronnie. The pari profusely apologized again for scaring everybody, Cisco and Ronnie just shaking their heads and saying that things were good as long as they didn't make a habit of disappearing like that without any clear word.

With that Cisco and Ronnie cleared away the trays and left Barry and Len to their privacy.

Barry let out a low groan as he and Len made their way back into their bedroom, their king-sized canopy bed calling to them like a siren. Barry pulled off his robe and shuffled around the bed to the side, pulling the covers back and sitting down heavily over the side of the mattress, slumping over and letting out a weary sigh as he waited for Len. Len made his way over to the window and pulled down the curtains to block out the daylight, it was still only just afternoon. Once that was done, Len took of his own robe, tossing it over the arm of a nearby chair before he joined Barry, sitting down beside him.

Neither spoke a single word, simply breathing for a few moments before Barry slowly climbed under the covers, Len following after him. There were no sides any more, just Barry and Len laying in the center of the bed. Len lay behind Barry, pulling him in close so that his back was flush against Len's chest. As they lay their with sleeping tugging at them, Len wrapped one arm around Barry's waist over the covers and snaked his other arm under Barry's neck, seeking out Barry's left and and intertwining their fingers so that their wedding bands were pressed together, glittering amidst the dimness of the room.

Len felt Barry sigh against him as he squeezed Len's hand back as spoke.

" This doesn't magically fix things." He said seriously.

Len nodded against Barry's neck and sighed himself.

" But we'll fix it won't we?" He asked, half-unsure, half-determined. Barry nodded.

" Yeah, we will, besides, knowing that you really do love me helps." Barry said with a smile, while Len huffed a small laugh and nodded.

" Yeah, really helps to know you love me too. Now lets do as the Healer ordered." Barry nodded and then let his eyes fall shut. He was out within seconds.

Len let out another sigh, feeling warm and content as he whispered into Barry's ear.

" I am gonna fix this Barry." He promised. Then Len settled in and let sleep slowly take over. Just as his eyes were fluttering shut, a low rumbling suddenly had them popping back open. When the noise sounded again, Len found himself relaxing a chuckling to himself and he pulled his now snoring like a bear husband closer to him. A few minutes later Len was joining Barry in sleep, letting his contentment and his husband's snoring lull him into peaceful oblivion.

 _A few hours later..._

Hazel green eyes were fluttering open as sleep left them. With a small groan Barry picked his head up off the pillow and took a look in front of him as awareness returned. The curtains on the windows had been pulled back, showing that the sun was setting outside, paining the skies in brilliant hues of orange, reds, and purples. Barry could surmise that he had indeed slept the day away. With a small sigh Barry reached behind him, seeking out his bedmate. But instead of solid, warm husband, Barry found nothing but empty bed.

Confused and wondering where Len had gone Barry pushed back the covers and sat up. As he did, movement in the corner of his eyes had him turning his head. To Barry's relieve there was Len, sitting with his back propped up against the head board. Barry began to smile, but that smile quickly turned into a confused and concerned frown as he finally took a good look at his husband.

Len looked perfectly fine, except for one thing. He was sitting there looking resigned and still a little tired, and his left eye was totally obscured by the ice bag he was pressing to it. Len looked back at Barry with his one eye and smiled wanly.

" Len what-" Barry began to say, but the rest of his words died into stunned silence and Len lowered the ice bag to reveal one hell of a shiner. The King's left eye was sporting a spectacular bruise and already swollen shut.

Barry got up into his knees and shuffled over to his husband, kneeling between Len's leg as he took a good look at his husband's prodigious black eye.

At Barry's silent look of askance, Len let out a sigh and spoke.

" You remember what Harrison's orders were, that were weren't supposed to set foot outside of our apartments or really get out of bed for the rest of the day?" Barry nodded and waited for Len to elaborate.

" Well, he didn't say anything about anyone coming in to see us so a certain Nevarian Princess decided to take full advantage of that particular little loophole." Len concluded with a small sigh.

As he put Len's cryptic words together, Barry found his face twitching into a brilliant grin as he spoke.

" Lisa came in and made you tell her everything that went down between us."

Len found himself smiling back despite the moderate amount of pain he was in as he nodded back.

" Even when she was still in diapers, my baby sister always had a mean right hook." He said with honest to God pride shining in his one good eye.

Barry threw his head back and laughed loud and long before he leaned in closer, taking the cold ice back from Len's hand and gently pressing his lips to Len's injured eye before he went to work pressing the bag back over the bruising.

Barry was still giggling as Len wrapped his arms around his waist loosely, rubbing circles into his back over his sleeping shirt. Len found himself chuckling too before he sent his laughing husband a pointed look.

" Laugh it up all you want Kid, at least I have already faced the dragon. She still wants to hear your side of things, maybe then you can explain to her why you thought that leaving Nevar was such and absolutely _brilliant_ idea." Len said with a soft smirk.

In an instant Barry stopped laughing and felt the cold wave of actual terror and impending doom wave over him as his husband's words regarding facing a certain princess finally registered in his head. As he sat their, Barry could only come up with one thing to say, but it summed things up nicely.

" Oh damn."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Warning: Sexual content and sensuality in this chapter.

.

Chapter 9

" It sure is brisk up here." Barry said, loving how his breath formed a light, wispy white mist as he let out a long exhale.

" You better count your lucky stars that winter has only just started and we aren't headed all the way to the very top of the mountains then Kid, cause then you'd know what real cold is." Len said with a goodnatured smirk.

Barry just laughed as he rode beside his husband of now eight months. The royal couple were currently making they way slowly up a carved stone trail along the base of the highest peak of the Nevarian mountain range that overlooked the kingdom.

They sat atop their respective stallions Speedy and Borealis, both royals wearing heavy fur cloaks over thicker winter royal apparel. They had both foregone regality, neither wearing any heavy, ornate chains of state. Both men had the fur lined hoods of their heavy cloaks up against the crisp mountain air. On both of their backs were strapped their respective swords, Barry with his father Henry's broadsword and Len with wedding gift from Barry.

Even the stallions were wearing protective heavy cloaks just in case the weather grew colder. Speedy's was a black ensemble with red embroidery while Borealis was sporting a deep bay blue cloak with silver stitch work. Both had the Nevarian snowflake emblem emblazoned over the foreheads of their protective face covering.

Behind the two royals, a small garrison of six armored and heavily armed guards followed on their horses.

The entire party was slowly making their way up the path that cut through the mountains to get to the hidden, royal chateau.

The was a soft bite of frost in the air as Barry and Len continued onward. They were heading to the chateau to enjoy some time away from the day to day stresses of ruling a kingdom and simply be with each other. For the next two weeks they were going to be spending time only with each other, orders being given that nothing was to disturb their time up here in the mountains unless it was an absolutely dire emergency.

Barry couldn't help but take a subtle glance at his husband, a warm little smile curving up the corners of his lips. Len had taken him completely by surprise a week earlier, when he had walked into their bedroom, kissed Barry almost breathless, and then informed him that they would be coming up here for two weeks.

It had been two months since everything had almost fallen apart between them. Barry couldn't help but smile as he remembered Len walking around and doing official business with the truly prodigious black eye Lisa had bestowed upon him. It had been so epic that people had often stopped dead in their tracks to gawk, for it wasn't often that one ever say a king so bruised up. It only got more epic when they would find out that Lisa was the one who had decked the king.

Barry could still feel a phantom twinge in his cheeks when he thought about how Lisa had acted when he had finally faced her. He told her everything and in so doing found himself on the receiving end of Lisa's wrath. She had roared and raged, fittingly calling both her brother and brother-in-law the perfect pair of idiots before she had seized him by his cheeks with her fingers and proceeded to give him a crude face lift. By the end of it Barry had hugged Lisa, who had broken down and demanded that he never, ever even think about doing something as stupid as leaving Nevar or else she would hunt him down and twist his ears clean off his head. Barry had promised, feeling horrible for the part he had played in scaring Lisa and everyone else, and also terrified because he knew Lisa was not one to make idle threats.

In the two months since that big, blow up fight that had led to so many startling revelations about what they truly meant to each other, Barry and Len had taken several strides to improve their relationship. Len had taken to talking to Barry whenever he was feeling overwhelmed about things, from missing Mick to things not going smoothly with the running of the kingdom. Barry was always willing to lend his husband an ear and also talk strategy. The almost daily chess sessions Barry would have with Lord Wells were a big help to Barry learning how to think strategically about things, be it official or personal.

Barry himself had become more assertive. While he always respected Mick and the indelible mark the previous Prince Consort had made over Nevar, Barry now strode to make his own marks, his own way. In the time that had passed, Barry had gained his second level of Healer's certification and now used all he had learned to help the people he co-ruled. Barry's love of mysteries had led him to use everything he was learning as a healer to investigate suspicious occurrences within the kingdom. He couldn't go out and work on things directly, but whenever Wells would get a report of a suspicious death or unknown disease as was the procedure with the kingdom's law enforcement, Barry would be there to take a look. He would almost lose himself in research or the evidence that was gathered in his quest to put the puzzle pieces together. It also helped that Barry had Len's full support in these endeavors. Barry was slowly gaining a reputation for his problem solving skills within the palace and the Nevarian court, and also among the people. He had also started accompanying Len to the morning meetings with the Advisory council, always listening intently and watching Len in how he dealt with issue. He would be active and ask questions of Wells and the other advisors. Len himself started discussing these things with Barry, enjoying the often subtle but now constant support from his young husband.

But matters of state were not the only realm in which Barry had become more assertive. While their marriage remained unconsummated, the intimacy between them had increased tenfold. Len was mostly delighted, and perhaps even a bit nervous when Barry expressed a desire for more closeness between them. It had been awkward and slightly daunting in the beginning, not just for Len but for Barry as well but it was Barry who made the compelling argument that they shouldn't be stuck where the had been stuck. They had declared their love for one another, it had marked a turning point in their lives. And so, slowly and with all due care, the royal couple had begun to get to know each other on a more intimate level.

They started by regularly bathing together. In the beginning Barry would still blush bright red whenever Len would start undressing in front of him, Len also averting his gaze because he had only ever seen Barry shirtless before that first bath they had shared together after coming home from the lake shore. At the time he and Barry had been to tired to be embarrassed, but now they were fully alert and in full view of each other. It had indeed been awkward at first, the both of them on opposite ends of the bathing pool until Len had take a deep breath, said to hell with keeping the walls up any longer, and swum across the five feet between him and his husband. Slowly but surely the awkwardness faded to where they could spend hours together in the baths, literally naked. Len was sorely tempted to use his own life experiences with this kind of thing, things he had learned when he and Mick were together, but he thought better of it. What he had with Mick was what he had with Mick, it was the past. Instead, Len had set about learning the nuances of Barry's flesh, always to the extent that Barry was comfortable going.

It was through these shared moments that Len learned how sensitive the scar just under Barry's right pec was to touch, that Barry was totally ticklish along his left side, to where a light poke would leave the younger man giggling and flailing. The flailing on one occasion may have led to a rather juvenile splashing war between the _King_ and _Prince Consort_ of Nevar, but there were no witnesses so Barry and Len would both deny it always... and maybe repeat the splash war every now and then, and that Len loved the way Barry's back muscles would gracefully ripple and flex beneath his hand whenever he slowly ran it down the length of his husband's spine.

Bary had learned a few details of his own, like how Len loved to have his shoulders massaged and especially his left foot because two of his toes were a little stiff from having been broken during a hunting accident when he was twenty-seven. He had been hunting for boar when his horse before Borealis, a faithful dark brown quarter-horse stallion named Garnet, had spooked badly and reared unexpectedly. Len had toppled from the saddled and while he had managed to land mostly on his feet, he had landed wrong on his left foot and cracked those two toes. Barry also learned that his husband would basically turn boneless in his arms if he kissed Len on the spot behind his left ear. Len also loved having his back sponged, especially over the old scars that unfortunately littered his skin.

But while they did learn a great deal about each other's bodies, they never touched each other below the waist despite it being awful tempting. Despite the wells of pent up desire, the boundaries that were set were stringently respected.

After a few weeks of bathing together, Barry and Len had also started sleeping together without shirts on. While Len already knew that Barry could snore loud enough to rattle the very foundations of the palace, Barry discovered that Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, King of Never, man of quiet intensity, _loved to cuddle_. Barry would feel so safe in Len's arms, that it soothed some of the hurt that still lingered from them almost shattering. For Len the feeling of holding someone he loved so deeply as his spouse in his arms was something he had been bereft of for five miserably lonely years, and it also served as a reminder of just what he had nearly lost in his stupidly irresponsible act fueled by guilt, anger, and insecurity.

The best thing that happened out of their near implosion besides the both of them finally coming clean about loving each other, was that they were finally talking to each other and learning about each other. Some things that were discussed were a little awkward, like a general overview of sexual histories, but there was no judgement. It was how Len learned that while Barry was a relative virgin when it came to men, he wasn't entirely a monk, having shared experiences with both male and female companions. Barry himself learned that Len had been more or less celibate in his five years of mourning, save for a few meaningless rendezvous when the biological urges had been too much to ignored, but mainly Len had been far to depressed in the beginning to really have much feeling. So it really was a clean slate between them in that respect. Len did had his previous thirteen years of marriage to fall back on, and he had vowed to make sure he used that knowledge to only every make Barry know just how much he cherished him.

Now though, Len and Barry both focused on the path ahead, as a beautiful structure came into view.

" Oh wow." Barry whispered under his breath.

There up ahead was the royal chateau, a beautiful two story building made of light gray stone and deep, reddish hued timber. It had indeed seen many years, yet its aged look only added to its beauty. Next to the main building structure where Len and Barry would be staying were two smaller, year equally well crafted buildings. One for the servants who stayed and tended the chateau all year round, and one for the six guards who had come along with Len and Barry to serve as security. The small, hill-like part of the mountain base upon which the house stood was already dusted with a light powdering of snow.

Len led the party to the front of the chateau where he and Barry dismounted. Len took a moment to thank the guards and dismissed them before he returned to Barry, who was taking in the gorgeous view. Down below about a good fifty miles, Barry could see the Nevarian palace standing tall and proud, yet it looked so much smaller than anyone could think possible. Len smiled softly at the look of open wonder on Barry's face, his husband having told him that he'd never been up a mountain before, the ones in Central being too small and too far away. Len gave Barry a few more long moments to admire the surrounding, but a sharp, cold gust of wind had him reaching for Barry's shoulder.

" C'mon, let's head inside."

Barry nodded with a smile and walked hand in hand with Len up the stone steps into the chateau. The moment they were inside, both royals let out contented sighs as the heat from the roaring fire that was going in the massive fireplace situated in the living room area buffeted them and slowly chased away the chill from outside. Len and Barry quickly took off their heavy cloaks, gloves, and swords, handing them off to the waiting servants before they headed over to the living room area to sit in front of the fire.

Just as Barry had taken his seat, he let out a startled half-yelp from being pulled sideways before his mouth was effectively shut by a pair of warm, familiar lips sealing themselves over his own. Barry instantly melted against Len, kissing his husband back fervently, neither of them caring about the servants that were quietly milling about. Another change in their relationship was that they were now not so disinclined to a few public displays of affection here and there, besides that, they were no longer in public, but in the quiet seclusion the chateau was meant to provide.

The servants, two older gentlemen, for their part dutifully went about putting away the royals cloaks and gloves, pausing to share a look and a smile that seemed to say "Typical newlyweds". The two men then left once their tasks were done, leaving Len and Barry to themselves. The royals had only call out or ring the bell in the event that they were in need of anything.

Once Barry and Len had kissed each other quite soundly, they drew apart. Barry rested against Len's side, tucked under his husband's arm. They stayed in a comfortable silence, simply staring at the dancing orange and red flames in the fireplace. It was Len who broke the silence with a small sigh against Barry's back.

" I haven't set foot in this place since Mick died, before that we would always spend a few weeks out of Summer up here." He said quietly as he looked around the place.

" Does it feel strange?" Barry asked as he craned his head to look up at Len.

" A little, when Lisa basically ordered us up here, saying we needed to finally tae a vacation together, I will admit my apprehension." Len replied honestly.

" And now that we're here?" Barry pressed on.

" I don't know what it is, maybe it's all the time that has passed, or that Lisa had them redecorate everything but, I don't feel sad or guilty being here. Sure, there is nostalgia but I am mostly... excited because the servants always make themselves scarce so it's really just gonna be you and me for two weeks... alone."

Barry felt his breath hitch a little at the way Len said that last word with a suggestive little quirk of his dark eyebrow making Barry feel a bit warmer under his collar that had nothing to do with the fire that was roaring just a few feet away from them.

Grinning, Barry leaned in and nuzzled against Len's throat beneath his chin, a grin slowly spreading across his face as he spoke.

" I really, _really_ like the sound of that." Len found himself grinning back before he reached up to cup Barry's face and pressed a lingering peck on his husband's lips.

When they parted Len's eyes went to the staircase that let to the second floor.

" Let's go freshen up and change, then I can show you around the place." Barry nodded in agreement as they got up off of the sofa and headed for the stairs.

Just as they reached the wide staircase, Barry decided a bit of fun was in order. So as he let Len walk about a step ahead of him, he reached out with that quick speed of his. There was a startled gasp from Len as the royal bum was cheekily pinched.

" Bartholomew Henry Allen!" Len said as he gazed at his husband in astonishment, completely taken off guard by Barry's brazen act.

Barry just casually kept walking, sending Len a truly dirty little smile with a mischievous glint in his hazel green eyes as the younger man started climbing up the stairs. Len found his astonishment quickly fading into a slow, burning heat that unfurled inside his belly.

 _" You'll pay for that Kid."_ Len thought with a smirk as he quickly followed after Barry to the second floor. Once they reached the top of the stairs Len gave Barry a playful push on the back, his husband stumbling forward lightly with a laugh as they headed down the hall to the arched wooden door that stood at the end of it. Once they were at the door Len pushed it open and turned to Barry.

" Want me to carry you over the threshold Handsome?" Len asked, completely deadpan.

" Knock yourself out Dear." Barry said with a snicker. He wasn't being serious but Barry guffawed as Len promptly seizing him by the front of his winter jacket and hoisted him over his shoulder, lifting him like he didn't weigh anything. Len then walked over the threshold into his room and made his way to the new, king-sized four-poster bed. Len then dumped Barry onto the bed with a chuckle of his own.

Barry landed on his back on top the ultra-soft bed with a small 'oof' before he smiled up at his husband who was looming over him, the smirk on Len's mouth having turned into a warm, admiring little smile. They took another moment to simply smile at each other before Barry got up onto his knees and reached out for Len, wrapping his arms around his husband's shoulders and leaning in to plant a kiss behind Len's left ear. The result was instant as Len let out a low, happy hum and his whole body seemed to sigh as he placed his hands on Barry's hips.

" Damn Barry, you better cut it out or we'll never make it out of the bedroom."

" Would that be so bad?" Barry whispered huskily against Len's ear. Len barely bit back shiver before he forced himself to focus as he drew back a little to take Barry's face into his hands.

" As much as I really would like to, there is no rush Kid." Len said, Barry looked mildly disappointed but nodded in agreement. Len smiled before he pressed a chaste kiss to his husband's lips and then reluctantly let go.

Barry smiled before he ducked into the bathroom to wash up a bit, leaving Len alone in the room. Len let out a small sigh as he turned away from the door to the bathroom and looked around the room. While this was definitely _not_ the same room that he and Mick had spent hours together in both day and night, making love and simply being together, the echoes of that bygone time were softly ringing in Len's ears. If he focused hard enough, Len could almost hear Mick's deep, throaty laugh echoing through the space. If he looked outside through the glass doors that led out to the large wooden balcony, he could just see him and Mick walking hand in hand along the small flat lawn of mountain grass that stood in front of the main house. The echoes of many happy moments were there in the chateau, not just of him and Mick, but also of him and Lisa, when they would spend time up here to get away from their father. The echoes were there, but they were just that, echoes, far away, and not so searingly painful as they would have been a few years earlier.

Len quickly shook himself of his musings and sat over the edge of the bed, removing the thick black leather boots he had on along with his sock. He wiggled his toes and stretched before he got up and made his way over to one of the two large chests that stood at the foot of the bed, lifting up the heavy lid. This chest contained the two weeks worth of simple attire he and Barry had respectively chosen for themselves and had sent up to this retreat in advance. For two weeks there would be no need for such formal royal attire as they usually wore, no need for chains of state or crowns. Len rummaged through the assortment and pulled out a simple black long sleeve shirt, something he would never wear back at the palace save for in the privacy of the royal apartments.

Len tossed the shirt over the foot of the bed and then started undoing the buttons of his heavy tudor jacket. He was about halfway through when the sound of a door opening and feet shuffling had him turning his attention back to the bathroom door. Len felt his breath stutter as he beheld Barry walking back into the room, sans the heavy winter jacket he had been wearing, the garment itself dangling from Barry's hand as the younger man made his way over to the second chest, not saying anything, just sending Len a smile.

As Barry leaned down and opened the lid to his own chest of clothing, Len continued with undoing the buttons of his jacket, but his eyes were hungrily zeroed in on Barry. They slowly racked over the pale and smooth planes that hid gracefully built muscles that flexed and rippled lightly as Barry moved about, rummaging through his clothes to make his own choice as to what to wear. Seeming to sense the eyes that were on him, Barry looked up over his shoulder and found himself smirking at the look on Len's face. They stood staring at each other, Barry shirtless and Len with his jacket laying open to give Barry an ample view of his own physique, the silence between them charged and coiling with pent up desire. Len and Barry forced themselves to break the tensioned filled moment, the smirk on Barry's face softening into one of his warmest smiles, the one that always worked to but Len at ease. Smiling back just as softly, Len nodded and then turned back to getting dressed, being sure to slowly peel of his jacket and give his husband a good long view of his own body, much to Barry's silent appreciation. Barry allowed himself a good long moment to admire his husband's powerfully built back and shoulders before he too set about getting dressed in a simple, deep red sweater. Barry then took of his riding boots and socks but left his heavy leather trousers on. He and Len both put on the plush, informal slippers that had been set out for them next to their respective chests before they headed back out of their bedroom.

If as they walked, Len swiftly grabbed Barry by the waist and held his husband flush against his, his hands squeezing the other royal bum firmly as he kissed Barry deeply before abruptly letting go and heading downstairs leaving Barry lightly stunned and smiling breathlessly, well the servants indeed made themselves scarce and Len had promised his husband sweet retribution for Barry's earlier brazen act.

Barry mock glared for all of about a second before he was laughing hard and quickly following after Len down the stairs.

Len started the tour by leading Barry down another hallway, to Barry's delight the hallway ended not it a door, but in a open library and sunroom at the back of the chateau that was brightly lit by the sun and gave a beautiful view of the frosty gray mountain face through the large, floor to ceiling arched window. Even though Barry was hoping that he wouldn't have too much time to spend in the library, he was looking forward to picking out something good to look at before bed as he was often fond of doing.

After the library/sun room, Len led them down further, to a lower level of the building. Barry observed that it was already warmer than normal down there even if there had been a fire going. When Len slid the unique, sliding wooden doors out of the way, Barry was stunned to see the large pool of steaming water that was housed behind them, a naturally occurring mineral hot spring as Len explained. As he watched Barry go and take a closer look at the hot spring, Len couldn't help but feel a heat that had nothing to do with the hotter air that they were in as his mind suddenly began coming up with the many possibilities the hot spring could provide him and Barry, since they were on holiday after all. Oh the things Len wanted to try.

Len hastily herded Barry out of there and showed Barry the rest of the chateau. In addition to the hot spring, there was also a regular indoor pool, a fire pit outside at the back of the house, several other well-decorated guest room. Len had just finished showing Barry the kitchen and Barry was just about to ask when lunch would be brought around, but the answer to his question revealed itself without him having to ask as Len led Barry into another room, which turned out to be a small, cozy dining room with a table just for two off to the side by the large arched window, while a longer table build to seat a large number of people took up the center of the room. It was on the end of the large table that was closest to the private table that a small feast was laid out for them.

" Awesome, I don't know about you but I am starving!" Barry said as he gripped Len by the shoulders and playfully pushed his husband further into the room towards the tables.

" Since when are you ever not hungry Kid?" Len asked with light-hearted sarcasm, because it was true, despite his thin physique Barry was like a bottomless pit into which mountains of food would disappear.

Len remembered with fondness how Barry had polished off almost four plates of food during their own wedding reception, having been on his second plate when they had fatefully reached for the same goblet of wine. Now Len watched with a warm smile, and some remaining disbelief as Barry piled his plate high with a little bit of everything from all of the dishes that had been laid out for them. Len piled his own plate high with his preferences because it had been a good few hours since breakfast, and the ride up the mountain had been pretty time consuming as well. They were both pretty much famished at this point.

They sat down at the table by the window and began to eat, enjoying the different kinds of meats and vegetables that had been sumptuously prepared.

Len speared a piece of asparagus with a garlic butter sauce and held it out to Barry, who chuckled and accepted the offering, leaning over and taking the asparagus into his mouth.

" Mmm, that is some really good butter sauce." Barry said as he reciprocated Len's gesture by offering his husband a piece of roast duck with a honey-almost glaze, which Len accepted with a smile. When he was finished enjoying the duck, Len spoke.

" I am pretty sure that butter came from goat's milk." He explained. Barry nodded in interest as he spoke.

" Yeah, and the herbs they put in besides the garlic are pretty awesome too." He agreed.

They pair went about enjoying lunch together, sharing bites of food and especially enjoying the easy conversation that was one of the fruits of all the time and work they had put in for the last two months to clear away all doubt and get on the same page with each other.

After lunch, the pair had lounged around in the library area, simply talking and laughing as Barry read sections of a laugh out loud comedy he had found among the many books that were stocked on the library shelves out loud, he and Len's laughter echoing through the entire chateau, much to the pleasure of the sparse group of servants who were working, it had been so long since this house was filled with anything other than desolate silence, to have new life within it again was joyous even to them.

Barry and Len lounged around, enjoying the distinct lack of king and princely responsibilities and the stress all such things undoubtedly caused. It was nice and quiet, cozy and warm, but beneath the relaxed atmosphere, there was a quiet, coiling tension just beneath the surface between Barry and Len. The hours passed and soon the day gave way to night. Barry and Len enjoyed a quiet dinner together before they thanked the servants and dismissed them for the night.

With the house all to themselves, the couple sat before the roaring fire in the living room area, poignantly sharing a goblet of deep red wine. As they sat in comfortable silence, Len turned his gaze away from the fire to stare at his husband's profile as Barry took a sip from the goblet. The light from the fire danced across Barry's face, illuminating those deep hazel green eyes that Len adored so much. In the fire light Barry looked every youthful, yet at the same time there was a maturity there to his features that had not been there before, most likely a gift of times both good and bad being married to Len and co-ruling a kingdom. Barry finished his sip, being sure to leave the last bit for Len, but he paused in handing the goblet back over to his husband when he caught sight of how Len was silently staring at him.

Barry felt his mouth go a bit dry as he saw the quiet hunger in those steely blue eyes. Without breaking his gaze with Len, Barry leaned down to set the empty goblet on the floor. When he straightened back up Len was leaning in with his own kind of fluid grace, backing Barry up against the armrest of the sofa and looming over him. Barry gasped softly as he found himself effectively pinned. Their faces were mere inches apart as Len spoke.

" I want you so bad Barry." He said softly.

Barry felt his breath hitch and a molten hot feeling uncurl in the pit of his stomach, but he also felt a cold spike of anxiety. Len, seeming to inherently sense this, leaned forward and pressed his lips to Barry's in a sweetly chaste kiss before he drew back and spoke.

" I know you aren't ready to go all the way with me, I just want you to know that while I do want you, I am not in any rush either. We're going slow, just like you want." He said assuringly. Barry felt relief course through him before he smiled brilliantly up at his husband.

" I love you." He said softly. Len found himself smiling back before he leaned his forehead against Barry's and spoke.

" I love you too."

Barry reached up and wrapped his arms around Len, pulling the other man flush on top of him. As Len buried his face against Barry's neck and shoulder while he wrapped his arms around Barry in turn, Barry let out a small chuckle as he spoke into his husband's ear.

" I want you too Len, but you're right, I'm not ready to go all the way yet. But I do want to keep going like we've been going, slowly learning about each other."

Pressing a kiss to Barry's pulse point, Len drew back so that he could look Barry in the eye as he spoke.

" What do you want to do tonight Barry?" He asked.

A look of deep thought crossed Barry's mind and he mulled a few things over, before an idea finally came to him. Len watched as a slow, calculating smile spread across Barry's face before the younger man extricating from his husband's arms and standing up.

Len watched, a slight frown of confusion marring his brow, but as Barry started walking towards the stairs, glancing back at him with a glint of promise in his hazel eyes, Len quickly figured out that it was time to head upstairs at the least. Swallowing, Len quickly rose from the sofa and followed close behind his husband. They made there way up the stairs to the second floor and down the hallway in a charged silence.

They went into their bedroom, Len shutting the door behind him. The room was warm and lit by the smaller fireplace that stood across from the large bed. Len was about to ask Barry what was going on, but all words died before even reaching his tongue as Barry promptly pulled off the deep red sweater he was wearing, tossing it onto the floor by foot of the bed. Len got a great view of that graceful, smooth back before Barry was turning around to face him as he spoke.

" I wanna lay with you, without any clothes." Barry said before a light blush spread across his cheeks.

" And maybe we could finally... t-touch each other for real?" He added, his nerves wavering.

It took everything Len had not to let his jaw drop and make could friends with the floor. Instead he kept it tightly shut as he slowly made his way across the room to stand about an arm's length from his husband. Len then reached for the hem of his own long sleeve shirt and pulled it off, tossing it to the floor to join Barry's. They both took a moment to take each other in, eyes raking over the smooth, and the not so smooth parts of each others bare torsos. Then Barry was stepping forward, wrapping his arms around Len's shoulders and sealing his mouth over his husband's in a deep kiss.

Len melted against Barry, wrapping his arms around the younger man in turn, his hands splaying out over the smooth expanse of Barry's back, loving the feel of those muscles rippling and flex beneath his palms as he passed them over Barry's spine. Barry allowed his own hands to roam, leaving fiery hot trails over Len's powerful shoulders, down his back, one of Barry's hands coming to rest over the center of Len's chest, feeling the fast beating of Len's heart.

When they finally broke apart several long minutes later they were both flushed and breathing a little hard. With great reluctance they pulled away from each other completely, Len shuffling over to one side of the bed, Barry following his lead and stepping over to the other. In full view of each other, with their bed between them, Len and Barry both started undressing the rest of the way. Soon two sets of pants and underwear were joining the two shirts already on the floor. While they had been naked in front of each other numerous times before with the shared baths they had become fond of taking, this was the first time they were completely nude together in bed.

(Author's note: Please try listening to "The Passion of King Henry" from the soundtrack of show 'The Tudors' Season 1)

They lay on their sides facing each other, propped up on an elbow. It was Len who finally broke the silence that had descended over them as he reached out and cupped Barry's cheek.

" This was very brave of you to ask." He said with a warm smile.

" Not feeling so brave now that we got to this point." Barry said honestly with a nervous smile as he ducked his head. Len let out a small chuckle before he shuffled a little closer, he took the hand he had cupping Barry's cheek and trailed it down the side of Barry's long neck to grip his shoulder.

" C'mere." He said softly. Barry put up no resistance and Len took him into his arms so that their naked forms were pressed together. Barry couldn't hold back a gasp and Len wrapped his leg over Barry's hip and intertwined their legs. Barry pressed his face into the junction where Len's neck and shoulder met, while Len pressed molten kisses behind Barry's ear and let his hands roam again leaving what felt like burning hot trails over Barry's back and side. They stayed like this for what felt like hours until Barry let out a small groan and pulled back to seize Len's lips in a desperate kiss. As Len kissed Barry back just as desperately, Barry rolled onto his back, pulling Len with him so that most of the other man's weight was on him.

When they broke apart with a gasp, Len went to work attacking Barry's neck with his teeth and his tongue, the younger man's cries and moans spurring him on, making him want to see what other noises he could elicit from his husband of eight months.

" L-Len!" Barry cried after a particularly hard bite to his pulse point. He reached up blindly and gripped the side of his husband's neck and pushed lightly, dislodging the other man from his neck so that they could gaze at each other. They were both breathing hard, and the physical signs of just how heated this had become were making themselves known loud and clear. With a gasp for air, Barry spoke, his voice well on its way to being wreaked.

" Husband please." He said softly.

" Please what?" Len asked, deciding to be a bit teasing. With a groan, Barry trailed the hand he hand on Len's neck down the man's shoulder and over his taught arm, seeking out Len's hand. When he found the appendage, Barry intertwined their fingers together and brought Len's hand to his lips, placing a quick kiss to the palm before he sought out Len's finger tips, kissing and sucking on them in a way that had the other man moaning before he could stop himself.

Then with a small moan of his own, Barry pressed Len's hand flat against the center of his chest, his heart pounding fast against the older man's. Then, covering Len's hand with his own trembling one, Barry began to trail Len's hand over his skin, slowly, torturously moving down further and further.

" God, Barry." Len breathed, the sensations overwhelming as their joined hands trailed over Barry's ribs, then down over the quivering planes of Barry's stomach, then over his sharp hip bone and finally past his naval to one of the most private parts of him.

" Touch me please." Barry whispered.

Len obeyed his husband, and could only lay their and stare for a moment as Barry's whole body almost arched off the bed. As Barry writhed in fresh pleasure at the barrier that had finally been broken, Len let out a small growl and surged forward, his mouth seeking out the faded scare just below Barry's right pec.

" LEN!" Barry screamed as a molten hot tongue laved over the sensitive scare tissue, sending fresh waves of lightening across his entire body. Barry moaned again as Len turned his attention away from the scar and onto the sensitive little bud that graced Barry's right pec.

The room was soon filled with the gasps and moans from its two occupants, Len's own cry of surprise when Barry decided that it was not fair that Len remained untouched while he himself was receiving so much attention, and simply reached for a certain part of his husband as well.

The noises of pleasure continued for many long moments until they finally, finally reached a loud crescendo of shouts as release crashed over them.

Afterwards Barry and Len lay side by side on their backs, breathing hard and deeply sated. Once he had calmed down some, Len turned his head to look at his husband, absolutely loving the sleepy, slightly daze, but utterly content look on Barry's face. With a little bit of effort since his entire body now felt heavy and lethargic, Len forced himself to sit up and then get up from the bed.

" Where... mmm... where're you going?" Barry asked sleepily as he watched Len pad across the room.

" I'll be right back love, don't worry." Len said over his shoulder before he quickly ducked into the bathroom.

Len took a small towel from the stacks that had been provided and wet it in some water. Shivering at the coolness, Len quickly went about cleaning himself of the aftermath of his and Barry's shared pleasure.

Once he was done he tossed the soiled towel into the hamper and wet a fresh one. Len then made his way out of the bathroom and back to Barry. The younger man was barely awake now so Len gently shook him by the shoulder.

" Mmph, what Len?" Barry asked in annoyance.

" Sorry about this Kid." Len said, although he didn't sound to sorry as he pressed the towel to Barry's skin. The result was instant and Barry swore loudly and sat up ramp road straight.

" Cold!" He shouted, but the rest of the profanity that was sure to come out of Barry's mouth was silenced by Len smoothly capturing his husband's mouth in a deep, probing kiss. After being tense for about a second, Barry was melting against Len, wrapping his arms around his husband and kissing Len back. The distraction was both welcome and effective as Len multitasked between kissing Barry breathless and cleaning the last remnants of their earlier pleasure from his husband's skin. Once he was done Len half-hazardly tossed the used towel in the direction of the bathroom before climbing under the covers of the bed with Barry.

The lethargy from earlier returned as Len held Barry in his arms and kissed him again soundly. When they drew back, Barry sent Len a sleepy, bright grin as he spoke.

" That was better than I could've ever imagine." He said, fighting back a yawn. Feeling his own eyelids drooping with exhaustion, Len smiled and nodded.

" Better than any dream I've had about you, that's for sure." Barry's grin widened.

" Then we should keep this up, less dreaming, more doing." Len found himself agreeing whole-heartedly as he leaned in and pressed a final lingering kiss to Barry's sleepy lips.

" I do like the sound of that, but for the immediate future I think some good dreams are in order." Barry just made a noise of agreement before he sighed and settled his head into the pillow beside Len.

He was out cold within a few seconds. As he began to drift off himself, Len turned his hand to gaze at his now sleeping husband's face, taking in Barry's peaceful expression. He was also waiting for the bear-like snoring to start up so it surprised him when Barry didn't make a sound this time.

 _" Learn something new about you everyday Bartholomew Henry Allen."_ Len thought before he too drifted off into peaceful slumber.

With that the co-rulers of Nevar gave in to the call of Morpheus on their first night up here in the mountains. The future was still uncertain regarding what might happen between them up here in this quiet seclusion from everything else, but tonight another of the remaining, flimsy walls had come tumbling down between them, and it was glorious.

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Author's message: Hi everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a few days, life just got totally hectic with family and professional commitments. Be that as it may, let me assure you that I have not abandoned this fic and hope to see it to completion. Thank you all so much for the messages though, lets me know how much this fic matters to readers. Thank you and I hope you keep liking this fic.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Warning: Sexual content and sensuality in this chapter.

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Chapter 10

The world was still mostly asleep at the Sun slowly rose up from the horizon. The light of the new morning sun slowly spread over the snowcapped peaks of the Nevarian mountains, illuminating the white snow over blackish gray stone. As the light made its way across the mountain range it slowly spread over the two-story log and stone Chateau and two smaller buildings that accompanied it.

Sunlight softly poured into the main bedroom room, bathing everything in the soft, pale light of dawn. As the light grew in strength, a pair of hazel-green eyes slowly opened and blinked away the lingering grip of sleep. With a small hum, Barry came back to awareness. As everything came back into focus he pushed back the sheets and covers so that he could quietly push himself up into a sitting position. He stretched lightly, being careful not to make too much noise as the other occupant of the bed was still fast asleep. He felt the vertebrae in his back crack lightly, the sensation quite pleasurable. Once that was done Barry turned his gaze to the still-sleeping form beside him and felt a smile slowly spread across his face.

Len was still sound asleep, laying on his front with the sheets and covers having rolled halfway down, giving Barry a tantalizing view of his husband's powerfully built back. Still grinning, Barry leaned in close and gently pulled the covers all the way down to just over Len's hip. With a gleeful feeling spreading through him, Barry leaned in an started pressing soft kisses to Len's skin, starting at the small of his husband's back and slowly making his way up the other man's spine. It was when Barry was about halfway up at the Len finally shifted beneath his ministrations, let out a low rumble of approval. Barry smiled against the skin of Len's back before he continued as he was doing until he pressed a final kiss to the back of Len's neck before pressing himself onto his husband's back, his lips grazing the other man's ear as he spoke.

" Good morning husband." Len just and buried his face into his pillow, his voice muffled as he spoke.

" It's way too early for you to be so cheerful Kid." Barry just chuckled softly before gripping Len by the shoulder and making his grumpy husband turn over onto his back.

Len smiled up at his husband, his striking blue eyes half-hooded and sleepy as he reached up and wrapped an arm around Barry's shoulders, pulling the other man down so that he came to rest half on top of him, mere centimeters separating them as Len spoke.

" This is our fifth morning here, and you are still waking up at the crack of dawn. Holidays are for sleeping in you know." Len said with mock annoyance. Barry just giggled and shook his head as he shrugged.

" It's one habit I have never been able to break, second the sun is about to come up, sleep just disappears and I am ready for the day." Len smiled and twirled some of the soft chocolate brown hair at the back of Barr's head between his fingers, the two of them sharing a beat of comfortable silence before Len suddenly surged forward, smoothly flipping them over so that he had Barry effectively pinned. Barry had found himself in this position many times over the course of the days they had spent here at the mountain chateau, so he just grinned up at his husband.

" I thought I had worn you out completely last night." Len said, his voice husky with sleep and something far more primal that had a shiver of excitement running up the entire length of Barry's spine. Letting out a shaky breath, Barry canted his hips up against Len's, causing his husband to gasp softly, his blue eyes turning almost black with desire in the pale, early morning light. Breathing hard himself as heat pooled between them, Barry smirked up at his husband in challenge as he spoke.

"Wanna try to wear me out again?" He asked softly.

Len thought it best to use actions instead of words as he surged forward and sealed his lips over Barry's in a deep, soul searing kiss. The noises in the room grew progressively louder and more desperate as flesh was kissed and intimately touched. The noises of passion grew to another crescendo, ending in the cried of each other's names. Yet again, Barry and Len did not finally take the consummating step, but in the days since that first night where they had finally touched each other so intimately, they had continued to explore each other in such a fashion.

There had been a few close moments where they had thought that maybe now they would go all the way, but either Len or Barry would back off before they would get to that point. That didn't stop them from enjoying each other and themselves with the new level of intimacy they had achieved.

As he now lay sated and sleepy in Len's arms, Barry smiled against the center of his husband's chest, letting the steady, solid beating of Len's heart lull him back into a light sleep. Len was soon joining him, because like he had said, holidays were for sleeping in.

 _Several hours later, with the sun now high and bathing everything in radiant golden light..._

Barry and Len made their way down the stairs, freshly bathed and Barry stretching his arms over his head lightly. They made there way to the dining room where breakfast was ready and waiting. The royal couple could have slept through most of the day but one of the servants had quietly knocked on the door telling them that breakfast was ready and the hour was growing late regarding the morning meal.

Barry and Len shared breakfast, Barry playfully pinching pieces of steak from his husband's plate, but feeding Len some of his chicken and tomato omelet in turn. Once breakfast was eaten and thoroughly enjoyed, Barry and Len decided that a little sword practice was in order. Len ordered one of the servants to go get the training swords out of the storage shed, while he and Barry went upstairs to change into heavier winter jackets and boots. After that they headed outside, where the air was crisp and clean, but thankfully not so bitingly frigid to where one's face would go numb within a matter of minutes.

They made their way over to the side of the chateau, where there was a long, rectangular path of dirt amidst the mountain grass. It was not the training circle back at the palace but it was serviceable. The servant that had been dispatched to get the swords was already waiting for them, handing the swords to the two royals before standing off to the side and remaining in case either of them needed anything.

Without much preamble, Barry and Len faced off and began trading sword blows. Barry would defend with practiced grace as Len would attack first, then they would reverse and Barry would go on the offensive. This was a good way to warm up before they got to the real competitive side of the training, to see who could disarm who by the time the servant called an hour's time.

So far, Len's experience had always trumped Barry's raw talent that was still being honed. For some reason, today Barry wanted to be the one to come out on top. He had to be strategic though, so Barry bided his time, being sure to fluidly switch between attacking Len with moderate force, blocking his husband's swings, and using his speed to make things extra difficult for Len to get a hit. After a good half-hour of this, Barry gleefully noticed that his strategy was working, Len was tiring.

Barry himself was starting to breathe hard, so after a final feint out of the way of Len's powerful swing, Barry went on full offensive. Thinking of every attack he knew, Barry unleashed a full blitz attack.

" Damn Kid!" Len yelled as he found himself being forced backward, doing his best to block the many attacks that were bombarding him.

Barry let out a laugh and sped up his attacks until finally, he say his chance. Using the flat of his practice blade, Barry hit Len's sword, moving and a circular motion and then flicking his wrist at the end sharply. The result was Len losing his grip around the hilt and watching with wide, stunned eyes as the sword went flying from his hand.

Len and Barry both watched Len's practice sword tumble to the ground with a light thump. There was a beat of silence and then Barry was quickly sticking his own sword into the soft dirt and jumping up high in the air with a triumphant shout. Len felt his own face break out into a bright grin as he watched his husband's exuberance.

Then with that incredible speed of his Barry was rushing forward and all but tackling Len in a tight bear hug, sealing his lips over his husband's in a fiery kiss. Len was stunned for a minute at the intensity of feeling that rushed up inside him, but the next moment he was melting against Barry and wrapping his arms around his husband's shoulders as he kissed Barry back.

The servant, a young man in his twenty ducked his head to hide his smile and his blush as he quickly scurried over the crude training field to collect the two training swords and then made himself scarce, allowing his King and Prince Consort their privacy.

When they finally broke apart with a gasp, Len held Barry's face in his hands, a proud smile on his face as he spoke.

" You did it Kid, you finally beat me!" Len grinned. Barry grinned back brilliantly before he leaned in and pressed his lips to Len's in a lingering peck before he spoke.

" Well I decided to use my head like you keep telling me, tired you out and then use that move you showed me right before our trip up here." Len laughed softly.

" So, how can I reward you for this triumph my husband?" He then asked huskily, his eyes going to Barry's lips. Barry found his face flushing despite himself, the way Len was looking at him still got him feeling hot under the collar. Deciding to be coy, Barry leaned in an pressed a playful kiss to the tip of Len's nose, earning a chuckle from the other man as he spoke.

" I'll think of something for my reward, right now more kissing and less talking though." He said cheekily.

Len was more than happy to oblige.

About an hour later, after some more light training interspersed with kissing and simply enjoying each other's company, Barry and Len finally headed inside, no one commenting about how Barry's hair was sticking up oddly from Len running his hands through it, or the spectacular hickey Len was sporting behind his left ear.

After they went upstairs to change back into comfortable vacation attire and freshen up, and perhaps to make out some more in the privacy of their rooms, Barry headed for the library to check out some of the science books Barry had eyes a few days earlier, while Len made his way back outside with his cloak on, wanting to see what the six guards who had come up the mountain with him and Barry were up to. If there was one thing about Len, he was one of the more approachable kings, often partial to showing up unannounced at the barracks where Mardon and the troops he commanded lived. He liked to keep those who pledged to defend Nevar with their lives on their toes, but also to show them his appreciation for such service.

Back at the library, Barry was up on the ladder, balanced carefully as he looked through the books on the very top shelf. As he made his way down the line, a small book with a deep, blood-red leather bound cover caught his eye. There was no title to it which also caught Barry's intrigue. Pulling the book free, Barry climbed down the ladder till he was safely on the floor again. Taking a seat on a plush chair by the large, arched window Barry finally opened the untitled red book to see what was inside. He observed that there were very little words, but many pictures inside.

A few moments later Barry was letting out a small, startled breath as realization dawned on him about just what these pictures were depicting. There on the pages were illustrations of intimate moments between men and women, along with arrows and brief instructions.

" Holy crap." Barry said under his breath, feeling his whole body heat up at the images that were before him of different kinds of positions and explanations as to what these positions would entail, the kind of pleasure that was meant to be felt.

As Barry kept looking through the pages, he finally stopped at a page that provided instructions for how a male was to safely prepare himself for penetration. Barry felt his breath stutter a bit as he observed the images and read the instructions. As he sat there feeling heat and anxiety pool in his stomach, Barry found himself suddenly struck by an idea.

Len may have asked him what reward he should be given for besting him in sword training earlier in the day, but now all Barry wanted to do was give Len something for being such an understanding and patient husband. As he gazed at the instruction, Barry decided that he would let down the final wall between himself and Len, and give his husband the one precious gift he had left. Folding the corner of the page in the red book, Barry tucked the book under his arm and quietly headed out of the library.

He was relieved to see that Len had not yet returned from his impromptu meeting with the six guards, so he quietly bound up the stairs three at a time and disappeared to the bedroom where he could take a more in-depth study of the page he had found, and the book in general.

About forty-five minutes later, Len came back into the chateau, laughing as he handed his heavy cloak to the waiting servant. He was surprised by how much time had gone by, the conversation he had shared with the six guards had been so enjoyable that he had lost track of time for a bit before he realized that it was getting close to lunch time.

" Where is his highness the Prince Consort?" Len asked as he looked around, not seeing Barry anywhere in the living room.

The servant shrugged apologetically as he replied.

" His Highness could still be in the library, that was where he was last seen headed after you morning training session."

Len nodded and dismissed the servant. He made his way across the living room and down the hallway that led to the library. When he found it to be deserted, Len surmised that his husband was probably upstairs. Eager to reunite with Barry, Len bound up the stairs and down the hallway. He was about to enter and see if Barry was in their bedroom when the door to said room suddenly opened and Barry stepped out quickly, almost crashing right into Len.

" Woah, slow down their Barr, what's the rush?" Len said with a chuckle.

" O-Oh crap sorry, didn't know where my head was." Barry said with a small chuckle that sounded just a tiny bit forced.

Len immediately picked up on the light flush to Barry's cheeks, and the way embarrassment was subtly coming off his young husband in waves. Len could also see that Barry wouldn't quite meet his eyes. Before Len could ask Barry what was wrong, the young man brightened up and spoke.

" Hey, it's just about time for lunch. Why don't you go freshen up and I'll wait for you downstairs?" He asked.

Len frowned lightly for a moment before he nodded.

" Alright, see you downstairs Kid." Barry nodded, leaned in to press a chaste kiss to Len's unsuspecting lips before he hurried away downstairs.

Len watched Barry disappear down the stairs before he gave alight shrug and ducked inside the bedroom. As he headed for the bathroom to wash his hands and maybe splash some water on his face, Len didn't notice the blood-red leather bound book that was laying on the nightstand beside the bed. The King of Nevar quickly fretted up and headed back downstairs, where Barry greeted him warmly with a sound kiss. They then headed to the dining room where they enjoyed a delicious lunch of various smoked meats, cheeses, and breads.

After they were done eating, Barry and Len lounged about in the living room for a good hour, simply talking and enjoying each other's company by the warmth of the fire. Then something seemed to shift and Barry a bit quiet as he spoke.

" Hey Len, I'm feeling a little tired, I think all the food's catching up to me. I am gonna go lay down for a bit." Len once again did his best not to frown because this was so atypical of Barry. After lunch, his husband was usually a ball of energy wanted to go for a right or talk for hours on end, never to lay down and snooze. Feeling a definite suspicion now, Len nodded and kissed Barry back when the other man leaned in and pressed his lips to Len's. Len watched Barry climb up the stares, his intense blue eyes zeroed in on his husband like a hawk until the other man disappeared upstairs.

Len forced himself to sit there in the living room an agonizing fifteen whole minute before he got up, told the servants to make themselves scarcer than usual but remain on standby, before he forced himself to slowly climb up the stairs and not make too much noise. His knowledge that he needed to be subtle warred with the part of him that wanted to rush upstairs and see what was wrong. For one terrifying moment Len couldn't help but wonder if Barry was coming down with something, that one thought causing him to remember what happened with Mick unbidden. Len quickly quashed down those wretched thoughts because on top of the fact that Barry had been totally fine the last time he had seen him not fifteen minutes ago, albeit acting strangely, Len had made sure that Barry and Cisco had both been inoculated with the proper medicines to combat such diseases as the one that had claimed Mick Rory's life.

Len made his way down the hall stealthily, feeling his heart starting to pound within his chest as he reached the door to the bedroom he shared with Barry. As he neared the door, Len could hear soft sounds coming from inside it, a shuffling, and quiet gasps and cries. Trying to remain calm and also wondering just what the hell was going on, Len gripped the door knob and turned it slowly before pushing the door in.

Thankfully the hinges did not squeak as the aged wood fell away to reveal the room behind it. When Len's eyes fell on Barry, he felt the breath vacate his body in one long exhale, his eyes widening at the vision before him.

There on his knees atop the bed was Barry, completely nude and with one of his hands reaching behind him, a look of pain and pleasure on his face. It did not take Len, with all of his experience to understand what Barry was doing.

" B-Barry?" Len said breathlessly.

Barry let out a small yelp of surprise, opening his eyes to see Len standing in the doorway. Feeling his face head up in utter mortification, Barry snatched up the towel that was laying on the bed beside him and hastily wrapped it around his waist. Ducking his head Barry was about to make a blind run for the bathroom to try and salvage what he could of his dignity, his heart crumbling that what he had wanted to do was shattered by what had actually happened. He had been hoping for a little more time.

Seeming to sense Barry's impending flight, Len bound across the room and got right in front of Barry just as the man was about to run, gripping his husband firmly but gently by the shoulders as he spoke.

" Barry what were you doing?" He asked softly, eying Barry with concern. He watched as Barry's face turned bright red and took on a mortified expression as he ducked his head and let out a shaky breath before he spoke, not looking up.

" M' sorry Len, I... I just... I found it in the library and it didn't seem like it would be that hard... I was just... and I wanted to surprise you but you came up too early and I..." Barry stammered.

" Hey, hey. Shh it's okay. Come here." Len said as he pulled his semi-nude husband into his arms and hugged him tightly, taking in that scent that was like lightening and feeling himself calm down.

" Just take a deep breath Love, and relax." Len said quietly, rubbing his hands over the smooth expanse of Barry's back as the other man took in a deep breath like he asked and then slowly exhaled it as he calmed down in Len's arms. After a moment Len drew back and held Barry at arm's length as he spoke.

" Ok, just tell me again, what did you find in the library?" He asked, keeping his voice light so as to keep Barry at ease. Barry, still blushing furiously looked over his shoulder before he dislodged Len's hands and leaned over the bed to retrieve the item in question. Len couldn't help himself and he let his eyes rack over Barry's smooth back as the younger man did this, but Len quickly shook himself out of his gutter thoughts and watched as Barry turned back and held out a red book.

Curious, Len took the offered book and flipped through a few pages, stopping at the page that Barry had found and folded. Realization soon dawned on him that this was a book on sexual instruction and positions. Recognition also dawned on him as he remembered.

" Oh Barry, this used to be mine. I remember now, I bought this just before me and Mick got married because I didn't have a clue about anything really. I've wondered about what happened to it but I see that it's been safe and hidden in the library." Len then looked up and smiled at Barry, who found himself smiling back softly despite his embarrassment.

" You found it." Len stated before he grew serious.

" Still Barry, what exactly were you doing?" He asked.

Barry did his best to remain calm and not blush too much as he adjusted the towel around his waist, tightening it and twisting at it nervously as he spoke to answer.

" I found it and I looked through it till I got to the page that I folded. Then I went upstairs so that I could read it in private a few times before I figured I could do what was on the page. Then you showed up and we had lunch and all that. Then I told you that I wanted to take a nap so that I could come up here and... get ready so I could surprise you. Earlier you told asked me what kind of reward I'd like after I finally won against you, I thought about it and decided that I'd give you something of mind instead." Len felt himself sighing as realization hit him.

" Your body, your virginity." He said knowingly, feel his own blood rise at the mere thought as he reached up and wiped a hand across his suddenly dry lips. Barry nodded before he ducked his head and spoke.

" I was... using my fingers like the picture and-mmph." Whatever else Barry was about to say was silenced by a hot mouth sealing itself over his own.

(Author's note: Please try listening to " An Historic Love" from the soundtrack to 'The Tudors' Season 1)

Barry gasped against Len's lips before he melted into the kiss, dimly aware that Len was slowly backing him into the bed. When they broke apart with a gasp, Barry let out a laugh as he suddenly found himself falling backward as the backs of his legs finally hit the foot of the bed in the gap between the two heavy wooden chests of clothing. The towel wrapped snuggly around his waist loosened, but did not fall open completely. He looked up and found his brain short-circuiting at the hungry look in Len's eyes as his husband loomed over him, tossing the red book onto one of the clothing chests that stood at the foot of the bed. The short-circuiting continued as Len started to slowly peal of his clothing one article of time until he was standing gloriously nude before his husband, with the light from the fireplace behind him.

Barry barely bit back a shout as Len surged forward and started attacking his neck and shoulders with his teeth and his tongue. As they treated sloppy, molten kisses, Barry and Len slowly pushed themselves backward so that they were laying in the center of the bed. Barry and Len broke apart with a gasp, Len reached up and cupping his husband's face. They took a moment to catch their breath before Len finally spoke.

" Barry you should have told me, even with having the book, you still could have seriously hurt yourself." He admonished gently. Barry ducked his head and nodded before he looked back up at Len with those gorgeous hazel eyes the other man loved so much.

" I just wanted to surprise you, make it special." Len chuckled before he leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to Barry's lips, then he had his husband laughing as he proceeded to kiss every part of Barry's face that he could find; his eyelids, his cheeks, his chin, his forehead, his nose, and then finally his smiling lips again before Len spoke.

" You did Barry, you made my heart actually stop when I saw you just now, you looked so _amazing"_ Len praised, before he leaned in and spoke against Barry's ear

"So _perfect_."

Barry felt his whole body shudder at the husky quality of Len's voice. With a low groan he surged up and kissed Len hard. Len fervently returned the kiss while his hand sought out the towel that was still around his husband's waist. With a firm yank Len got rid of the final barrier between them. More kisses and heavy caresses followed for a few long minutes before Len finally forced himself to pull back. Barry was about to protest until he say the absolutely dead serious look on Len's face. Len reached out and help Barry's chin in his hand as he spoke.

" Are you absolutely sure that this is it, this is what you want to do?" He asked. Barry felt his hammering heart slow down a bit as he met Len's gaze head on and nodded his head.

" I am yours in every other way Leonard Snart, take me and make me yours this way too." He said with full resolve.

It took everything Len had not to just surge forward and do as his husband said, but instead Len ran his thumb along Barry's kiss-swollen bottom lip before forcing himself to let his husband go and quickly duck into the bathroom. Barry let out a shaky breath and kept his eyes glued to the bathroom. Len did his best to remain calm and not fumble as he reach dover to the small cabinet that stood beside the mirror that hung over the sink. Pulling it open Len looked inside at the various collection of small vials and bottles that were inside. He reached in and pulled out a vial of clear liquid and a crystal glass bottle filled with an opaque white liquid.

Len then made his way back into the bedroom and rejoined Barry on the bed. He set the two bottles down on the bed and took a moment to kiss Barry breathless before he spoke.

" Lay on your stomach for me." Len said. Barry blinked for a moment but did as Len said, laying down on his front.

Len picked up the vial with the clear liquid and knelt beside his husband, popping the stopper free and tipping some of the vials contents onto Barry's exposed back. Barry's breath hitched at the sensation. Strangely enough the liquid was almost ice cold against his skin despite having come straight from a cabinet at room temperature.

" How is it so cold?" Barry asked softly.

" That's a secret for another time, right now, just enjoy what this oil does." Len smirked as he liberally coated his hands in the clear liquid and then got to work.

" Mmm." Barry groaned as Len began to gently massage his back and shoulders, spreading the oil over his skin.

The oil stayed cold even with all of Len's ministrations. Len then leaned over and kissed Barry from behind before he sat back, running a hand along the length of Barry's graceful spine as he waited.

He didn't have to wait long as Barry, who had a moment before he deeply relaxed suddenly gasped and began to writhe, his entire back suddenly engulfed in an almost too hot sensation. The sensation spread from his back all the way down to his fingertips and toes. It was invigorating, intoxicating, and just amazing. Len could barely hold back a shudder of pleasure just from watching Barry as he was now, so beautiful, so wanton.

" L-Len, I... Oh God _please_." Barry moaned. Len leaned in and lightly sank his teeth into his husband's shoulder, causing Barry to cry out before shivering and sighing into the mattress. Len soothed the bite with a kiss before he leaned in and spoke into Barry's ear.

" Let me take care of you, show you what it is you were trying to do before." Barry groaned and nodded his head.

" Yes, please Len, please!" He said desperately as the near burning sensation from the oil now turned into a wonderful tingling all over his skin. Len leaned in as he picked up the crystal bottle with the opaque white fluid.

" Turn over." He ordered.

Breath hitching, Barry slowly rolled over so that he was now facing Len. Len picked up one of the pillows and silently urged Barry to lift up his hips, which the young man did so that Len could both have a tantalizing view and also slide the pillow under the small of his husband's back. Barry lay back down with his hips now slightly raised. Len leaned forward and loomed over Barry, taking his husband's parted lips and a deep kiss before he sat back up again and pulled out the stopper on the crystal bottle. He poured a liberal amount of the bottle's contents into his hand, liberally coating his fingers.

Barry watched with his heart pounding almost clear out of his chest as Len then took the bottle and poured some of the white substance onto his exposed entrance. The liquid was mercifully warm.

" Just breath for me Barry, and tell me if it get's to be too much. I promise you I'll stop." Barry found himself smiling warmly at his husband despite the nerves, Len being so attentive putting him at ease as he nodded.

Taking a small breath to steady his own nerves, Len leaned in. There was charged silence save for the hard breathing of both lovers. Then Barry was letting out a soft cry of pain as his body was finally breached.

" Oh my..." Barry breathed as Len carefully and slowly made his way in with one finger. It took everything Len had not to lose his composure all together just from seeing Barry as he was now, a lovely flush to his skin and a look of pained ecstasy on his face. Len held it together though, wanting to keep seeing what other noises he could rend from his husband and what other looked would show across his handsome features.

With slow, torturous care, Len deemed that he had stretched the tight channel of muscle enough to add a second finger.

Barry screwed his eyes shut and breathed against the burn of being stretched as he was, but also loving the shooting bolts of pleasure it also caused to shoot through his whole body. Len leaned in and gave Barry a sloppy kiss as he worked his way in further, scissoring his fingers and feeling around for that one special spot.

Len grinned when he hooked his fingers and pressed against something, the result instantaneous as Barry wrenched his head away and cried out, his whole body almost arching off the bed, sending Len's fingers in deeper in the process.

" What the fuck was that?" Barry gasped, his eyes almost rolling as he blind grasped at Len's neck.

" That my dear Bartholomew was your sweet spot." Len said with a smirk before he mouthed at Barry's jaw.

" Do it again please." Barry said softly. Len smiled down at his husband and spoke.

" Don't worry. Just relax Dear Heart."

This torturous pleasure went on for several long, agonizing minutes before Len finally withdrew his fingers without touching Barry's sweet spot again. Barry lay eagle spread and groaning at the loss, the feeling of emptiness new and distressing.

" Shh Barry, shh." Len soothed as he ran a hand through his husband's hair and smoothly knelt between Barry's bent knees. Len reached over and picked up the vial of the clear oil, popping the stopper as tipping the vial over, pouring the remaining oil onto Barry's chest and stomach before he went about massaging it in. He absolutely loved the way Barry writhed under his hands, the muscles of his chest and stomach quivering and flexing as Barry cried out at the cold sensation that came first. A few moments later Barry was arching magnificently as the hot sensation spread over him.

Len let out a soft groan at the sight of his husband, his own arousal almost painful at this point.

While Barry writhed against the onslaught of the oil on his senses, Len gently spread Barry's thigh further apart before he leaned in between them.

A few moments later, Barry's strangled scream and Len's low groan were filling the air as Len gently joined their bodies at last.

Barry's eyes filled with tears at both the pain and also the overwhelming realization that this was it, it was finally happening. Len trained his hands up Barry's quivering stomach and chest before running up his arms and seeking out his husband's hand's, intwining their fingers and squeezing almost painfully tightly, Barry squeezing just as hard, their wedding bands sparking in the dim light of the room. Barry groaned as Len went in the last inches that remained before he opened his tearful eyes and looked up at his husband, slightly dazed.

" Oh my God Barry, Barry, Barry." Len moaned as he found himself engulfed in tight, perfect heat. Seeing that Barry was looking up at him, Len leaned down and captured Barry's lips in in a deep kiss, wanting to map every inch of Barry's mouth. While he kissed his husband, Len let go of Barry's hands and trailed then along Barry's side, earning a low, muffled groan against his lips from Barry. Len trailed his hands further across Barry's hips, then lower, taking a moment to give the two firm globs a squeeze before he trailed his hands over the undersides of Barry's thighs and hooked his hands under each knee, lifting them and gently wrapping Barry's legs around his waist as he and Barry broke apart with a gasp.

" You're so good Barry, God you're so good!" Len whispered.

" M-Move Len, please just move!" Barry yelled.

With a stuttered gasp of his own, Len drew his hips back until he had nearly pulled all the way out before he surged forward for the first time, aiming for that special spot.

" LEN!" Barry screamed in both pain and pleasure as Len began to thrust into him. Barry blindly reached up and wrapped his arms around Len, his hands splaying across that powerful back, his fingertips digging in, causing Len to groan loudly before he went about kissing and biting at Barry's exposed neck. Barry gave just as good, kissing the breath from Len's lips and biting at his husband's neck and shoulders, meeting each thrust and feeling like there was a live current running through both of their bodies.

The noises of pleasure steadily grew louder and louder with each passing minute. Both Barry and Len could feel the pressure building within them. As Len's movements began to become more and more erratic, he let out a low growl and seized Barry, wrapping his arms around Barry's back and hoisting him up so that he was supporting all of Barry's weight and thrusting upward into that perfect heat.

Barry's cries were interspersed with harsh gasps as he panted for breath and looked down into his husband's eyes, the normally steely blue orbs had grown black with Len's pupils being blown. Barry wrapped his arms around Len's shoulders and hung on, crying out with each thrust as that special spot within him was pounded again and again. With a gasp of his own Len trailed his hand up Barry's heaving stomach and chest, causing his husband to throw his head back and cry out when he ran the nail of his thumb over the sensitive scare below Barry's right pec, taking a moment to just take in the sight of it all before he continued trailing his hand up and hooking Barry but the side of his neck and pulling his head back down into a molten hot kiss.

As Barry kissed his husband back, one final thrust from Len proved to be all that was needed to send him toppling over the edge.

" LEN!" Barry screamed as he wrenched his head back and let the waves of climax crash through him.

Barry's muscled clenched down around Len hard mid thrust, and it was all the way needed for him to go toppling over the edge as well.

" BARRY!" Len shouted as his very vision went white.

As they rode out wave after wave of intense and incredible pleasure, Barry and Len's bodies both lost all tension, Barry collapsing backwards with a gasp, pulling Len down with him. They lay together in a boneless, sweaty heap as they each tried to catch there breath.

It was several long minutes later before enough sense returned to Len for him to understand that he needed to move so as to not injure his husband. With a low groan and summoning whatever strength he had left, Len unjoined himself from Barry. Barry winced slightly as his muscles twinged in protest, but most of him was still to high on endorphins to feel anything more than that distant pain. With a light groan Len pushed himself to the side to collapse back onto the bed next to his blissed out husband.

Barry used whatever strength he had left to slowly turn onto his side, his vision already dimming at the corners with fast approaching sleep. Len looked up to meet Barry's sleepy, smiling gaze and found himself smiling back at his husband.

Len watched as a single tear broke free out the corner of Barry's eye, trailing down the side of his nose. Len reached up and cupped Barry's cheek, tenderly wiping the tear away with his thumb. No words were spoken as the pair simply lay together and stared at one another for what seemed like a life age. Then Len forced himself to draw away and somehow get up, every part of him protesting down to his very soul at separating from Barry, but it they wanted to not have a more unpleasant morning than necessary, then they needed to clean up.

Len shuffled into the bathroom and cleaned himself before he got a towel ready for Barry and headed back out. He smiled tiredly as he discovered that Barry was fast asleep and it killed him to have to disturb his husband.

Barry moaned in protest as the cool towel was swiped across his still flushed skin, but Len was quick as he cleaned as much of the aftermath of their consummation as he he could. By the time Len was done Barry was almost asleep again. Len pulled back the covers from under Barry and gently maneuvered his husband under them before climbing in himself. Len held Barry close, the younger man's back flush against his front as he tangled their legs together, sleep tugging insistently at him as well. Smiling into Barry's hair, Len spoke.

" How does it feel to be finally consummated with me in marriage?" He asked softly. Barry let out a small sigh of contentment as he spoke sleepily.

" Pretty damn awesome, now lemme sleep." He grumbled, his words already slurring a little.

Len pressed a final kiss to Barry's hair before he settled in and let his eyes fall shut. Barry sighed and let his own eyes fall shut, ready to join Len in sleep when he was suddenly jolted by a deep, rumbling noise. Tensing up for a second, Barry blinked owlishly as the noise happened again. Then as realization dawned on him, Barry was letting out a small chuckle and letting that deep rumble lull him into peaceful sleep. As he drifted away, a final thought ran through Barry's sleepy mind.

 _" Well what do you know, he snores too, like an avalanche."_


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Chapter 11

" Hmm." Barry hummed with his eyes closed and a blissed out expression on his face as Len gently ran his fingers up the length of his husband's spine.

The royal couple lay on their bed freshly cleaned and in post-coital bliss. It had been a couple of days since the night they had finally consummated their marriage, and they had spent that time getting very well acquainted with each other's bodies. Once this final barrier had come down between them, they had both seemed unable to get enough of each other. It really was like the honeymoon period had finally begun, which was ironic seeing as to how it was nearly nine months _after_ they had joined in the bonds of marriage.

Len leaned in and pressed his lips to Barry's in a sleepy kiss, feeling warm and sated in a way that he hadn't felt in a long, long time. Barry's exuberance for the activity they had just partaken in was infectious. After they had made love for the first time, Len had finally stopped thinking of himself as the washed up widower who had screwed up Barry's life and finally begun to see himself for what he really was, a newlywed along side Barry.

After their first time, Barry had undoubtedly been a little sore; it was his virginity that he had willingly given to his husband after all. Len had used every ounce of knowledge he possessed to ease Barry's discomfort. After their first time he had basically gone into protective mode and would barely let Barry get out of bed. During that first day Len gave the servants a full list of foods that would be easy on Barry, and also added in some of his favorite dishes. Barry allowed Len to dote on him hand and foot that first day, but once the second day had come around he had softly demanded that things go back to normal, where they could dote on each other equally.

Once Barry had recovered moderately from his first experience with Len, the pair continued moving forward, making love and even trying out a few of the basic beginner positions that were depicted in Len's little red book. They just loved to be with each other with this final wall between them at last obliterated.

Earlier in the night, the pair had enjoyed a quiet yet deeply charged dinner together, in which both Len and Barry had put on a show teasing each other with subtle, but suggestive gestures. It had culminated with them dismissing the servants for the night and then proceeding to try to devour each other whole. It was after some heavy kisses were shared that Len surprised Barry by taking him down to the hot spring that lay beneath the house and showing him just how sensuous a good soak in the hot mineral waters would be. Barry and Len had allowed the desires between them to keep building, they stayed in the hot waters of the spring for the recommended amount of time before they had headed back upstairs to their waiting bed, not even bothering to cover themselves as they had dismissed the servants and now had the whole chateau to themselves.

They had made love again, not keeping count, and this time around Barry had made sure to give Len a massage with that special oil as well so that they could both enjoy that intoxicating, almost too hot sensation it would cause.

" Wish we could have stayed in the hot spring all night." Barry murmured when Len finally drew back, gazing up at his husband sleepily. Len chuckled and shook his head as he planted a few sweet kissing over Barry's shoulders before he spoke.

" You know the rule, only fifteen to thirty minutes allowed in those waters, unless you want to end up boiled."

" Mmm."

They lounged together like this, carefree and blissfuly unaware of anything else besides each other. Barry was the first to drift off, using Len's chest as his pillow and doing a very fine impression of an octopus once more. Len absolutely loved this feeling of literally being surrounded by the one he loved. Len pressed a kiss to the top of Barry's sleeping head before he too drifted off into a peaceful sleep, even snoring albeit lightly this time around.

Only, it wouldn't stay peaceful for long.

About an hour after he had drifted off, Len was bereft of Barry who had turned over onto his other side at this point, leaving the king laying by himself as his eyelids moved rapidly behind his eyelids, signaling that he was in the grips of a very powerful dream.

 _In said dream..._

Len hummed a small tune as he draped his favorite chain over his shoulders, the emblem of Nevar sparkling brightly in the light. He looked around and found it slightly odd that Ronnie was nowhere to be found, but seeing as to how he was now fully dressed for the day in a light gray, almost white Tudor jacket with a matching over jacket trimmed with a darker gray jacket and his chain of state, Len shrugged, believing he had already dismissed his Page.

With a smile and feeling eager, Len made his way of his changing suite and out into the living room area to wait and see how gorgeous Barry would look today. He stood there with his eyes on the door to the other changing suite. A frown started to form over Len's brow as the inures ticked by and still Barry did not emerge. Finally, Len stepped over to the door and knocked on his lightly.

" Barry you in here?" He called, receiving only silence.

There was no noise coming from inside, just silence. Curios now, Len reached for the doorknob and twisted it before he pushed the door to Barry's changing suite open. What greeted the king was an empty and immaculate changing suite, with everything in its proper place, not boxes of chests open, and not even Cisco was their like he usually would be, sitting in a chair by the window, waiting to help Barry get dressed. It was all just empty.

Len shook his head and closed the door, staring at it for a few moments before he shrugged and proceeded to make his way out of the royal apartments. Perhaps Barry was already down to breakfast with Lisa.

As he made his way down the hall, Len noticed that it wasn't just Barry's changing suite that was oddly empty, even the halls were deserted, Len could not find even the regular guards that stood watch to be at their normal stations, not a single one.

When Len reached the private dining room that he, Barry, and Lisa usually enjoyed breakfast together he found it to be completely deserted. Feeling the slow coldness of panic beginning to grip his heart, Len left the dining room and started making his way to the great hall, after all, that was where court was held and where just about everyone would usually be after his usual morning meeting with the advisors.

As he neared the doors, Len felt relief course through him when he caught sight of two heavily armored guards standing to attention on either side of the great carved doors.

" Hey, what the hell's going on, where is everyone?" Len asked, as he came to stand before one of the guards.

All he got in response to his answer was cold silence. Neither guard even looked at him to acknowledge their king. Len was about ready to grab one the indolent guards and shake him till he spoke when the king noticed what they were both wearing.

Armor, black ceremonial armor, along with jet black capes baring the Nevarian snowflake emblem in simple white. Len felt a jolt pass through him, for he had only seen the guards wear this type of armor on one kind of occasion. With his heart pounding, Len spoke.

" Why are you wearing this armor? Speak, your king commands it!" He ordered sharply.

Again, Len received no reply and nearly jumped out of his skin when a loud, mournful gong sounded. Before he could ask just the the Hell was going on, the two guards turned sharply on their heels with perfect synchronization, facing each other with those eerily blank looks on their faces before they presented their arms. With a loud crack and a low grown the doors to the great hall slowly fell open before Leonard. When they were open enough, Len sent one final look at the guards before he strode through into the great halls.

When his eyes beheld what was inside he felt his insides freeze.

There standing on either side of the blue carpet aisle was a veritable sea of black clad people. The curtains on the windows and the banners that hung from the ceiling were all black as well. Great black standing candelabras stood lines up on either side of the aisle, black and red candles burning within the holders, bathing everything in a soft but eerie light. Soldiers all dressed in ceremonial black armor and matching caps stood to attention on either side of the great blue aisle, its normally bright color now dull and lifeless. As Len took a glance out the window he was stunned to see that it had grown dark outside when not a moment earlier it had been bright morning back in the royal apartments.

Feeling cold fear pumping through his veins, Len made his way down the aisle with haste, scanning the many wane and tearful faces for anyone familiar. As he strode forward he couldn't see the great dais up ahead, the spot where he and Barry had stood together and took their wedding vows.

" What the hell is going on here?!" Len screamed as he broke out into a run, the aisle seeming to go on forever or he was running in place. Either way he felt complete stuck.

( Author's Note: Please try listening to "A Country at Death's Door" from the soundtrack to 'The Tudors' Season 1)

Then just as abruptly he found himself standing before the raised dais, it still lay empty so Len was confused further as to what was going on. Then seemingly out of thin air, Mark Mardon was suddenly there standing by the stone steps of the dais. Len stepped over to his general and began shouting, demanding to know what was going on, why everyone was shrouded in the garb of mourning, and most importantly, where was Barry, where was his husband? But as he spoke, not a single sound came forth. Mark just looked at him blankly, clad in black armor with a, ornately embroidered black cape, the general's eyes were red-rimmed but black along with the rest of his expression on his pale, pale face.

Frustrated and terrified now, Len turned away from Mark and saw that standing on the other side of the blue carpet was Harrison Wells and the rest of the advisors, all of them pale and clad in their black robes of state, their faces pale and eerily blank as well. When Len rushed over to them, again he could not make a sound as he yelled right into Harrison's face.

Len then reached out and seized Harrison by the front of his robes and started bodily shaking him, begging his advisor and friend to just snap out of it and say something, to tell him what the hell was going on. He happened to glance at something that caught the corner of his eye and turned to gaze at it. Len felt his pounding heart slam to a halt again as he beheld an truly awful sight.

There standing a few feet away were Caitlyn, Ronnie, and Cisco, all of them clad in black and looking pale and drawn, their eyes blank and dead, the brightness gone from all three young attendants. And there, standing along the steps of the dais were Eddie, Iris, and Joe standing at the very stop step. They were all dressed in black, Iris with a veil of soft black organza with a simple lace boarder. She wore a black gown and no jewelry, her face devoid of makeup behind her veil of mourning. Eddie was dressed in a simple, plain black tudor jacket with the same red sash he had worn to the wedding over it. His eyes, once so bright and full of laughter were now red-rimmed and silently devastated within his unnaturally pale face. But it was when Len's terrified and confused eyes fell on Joe that he snapped out of the paralysis that gripped him and rushed forward, leaping up the steps of the dais until he was before his father-in-law.

" J-Joe?" Len asked shakily. Joe just stared back at him. Clad in black royal garb to befit his station, Joe was bereft of a crown atop his head, his hands clenched into tight fists while he face was blank like everyone else's. But it was his eyes, his once warm eyes were red-rimmed and dead, tears pooling and falling from them without end as the king of Central Kingdom stared back at him unseeing. Len was about to reach out and grip Joe by his arms, both as a way to comfort his quietly devastated looking father-in-law, but also to gently asking him what was going on and where was Barry, but just before his hands reached Joe, Len felt a long fingered hand firmly grip him by the shoulder.

The hand was familiar and Len instantly felt relief course through him as he quickly turned around, but the relief soon turned into dread once more as he came face to face with Lisa.

(Author's Note: Please try listening to "Henry in Solitude" from the soundtrack to 'The Tudors' Season 3).

Gone was the elegant and glamorous princess Len knew his baby sister to be, instead she stood before him utterly devoid of such resplendence. She wore a simple, plain black gown of crushed velvet with long sleeves, around her neck hung a simple chain of silver from which hung the Nevarian snowflake, the silver dulled and void of luster. Her hands were covered by delicate, black lace gloves. She had a veiled of black fixed atop her head, but it was pulled back to reveal her face, her pale, make-upless face. Her bright smiling blue eyes were now dull, almost gray as she stared back and Len.

" L-Lisa?" Len asked, feeling fresh fear course through him as recognition dawned on him. He had seen Lisa like this only at one kind of occasion. The first time had been when they had buried their father, she had only been a teenager. The second time had been five years ago, when they had... said goodbye to Mick. It was an outfit Len absolutely hated to see Lisa wear, and it had haunted his dreams for quite a while after he had cremated Mick.

" Lisa why are you wearing that?" He asked and he looked around.

" Why is everyone wearing black? What is all this? Where's Barry? Where is my husband?!" Len all but screamed.

Lisa said not a word, but she blinked and then slowly raised her glove covered hand and pointed towards the dais. Len followed his sister's movements and turned towards said dais, and when he did, he felt the very breath leave his body within a matter of seconds. There before him was a vision that had haunted his mind for five years. Len felt like the temperature in the entire hall had dropped to zero, despite how large said hall was and the massive number of people currently filling it.

There on the dais stood a wooden bier with black and red cloth draped around its edges. Atop this bier was a large, deep red pall and to Len's silent horror, he could make out a figure laying hidden beneath it, unmoving, so very inert and unmoving. A few feet from each of the four corners of the bier stood four great candelabras of gleaming gold and silver, holding many white candles that burned softly. At the base of each candelabra was an arrangement of flowers, deep red roses, pure white ones, and dark, almost black orchids.

Len didn't flinch this time as that loud, mournful gong sounded. Instead he let out a shaky gasp, his body trembling and tears gathering in his eyes as he slowly stepped towards the shrouded figure who was laying in state within the great hall.

This was a dream, Len told himself, an awful dream conjured up by his mind, making him relive the day that he had been forced to say goodbye to Mick. But then, why were Joe, Iris, and Eddie here? They hadn't even met yet. This truth did not do anything to quell Len's rapidly beating heart as he came to stand alongside the pall covered figure. As he reached out with a shaking hand towards the pall, Len stopped about halfway to it when he noticed that his sleeve was different. As he looked down at himself, Len felt the tears fall free. It may have been a dream, but it was no less devastating from him to realize that the outfit he had been wearing, that light gray tudor jacket, and matching over jacket with the gray fur had morphed into an all black ensemble, a black tudor jacket and matching sleeveless over jacket with dull gray fur along its hem. Around his shoulders was a simple chain of dull, almost iron-colored silver from which hung the Nevarian snowflake emblem. This chain he remembered wearing, the same chain he had ripped apart and tossed into the fire of Mick's funeral pyre.

As he turned his gaze away from his own black attire, Len felt a fresh wave of shocked dread course through him when he finally noticed the symbol that was emblazoned across the center of the pall. There emblazoned in muted gold was not the flaming symbol of Niran, Mick's homeland, instead it was a Nevarian snowflake... with a lightening bolt going through it.

Letting out a shaky breath and gasping back sobs, Len blinked away the hot tears and reached the rest of the way towards the pall. With pale, shaking fingers Len grasped the velvety material and pulled it back.

When the person laying beneath it was revealed to him, Len could not even tell how loudly he started screaming, his eyes glue onto the unnaturally pale face and closed eyes of Bartholomew Henry Allen. He lay their cold and silent in _death_.

He lay on the bier with a black pillow beneath his head, dressed in his wedding garments. The deep red tudor jacket with brown fur trimmed over jacket stood out blood red and hideous against his pale, grayish pallor. His father's sword lay perfectly straight down the middle of his body, his pale hands gripping the hilt. On Barry's left hand his wedding band lay dull, the Nevarian ice glass no longer lustrous and sparkling. Atop Barry's head was the beautiful coronet he had worn on their wedding day looking worn and dull as well. Barry's once warm and vibrant features lay pale and slightly sunken in, gaunt and with a waxy quality to his very skin.

" No." Len moaned once he had screamed himself hoarse.

" No, no, no, no. B-Barry... Barry!" Len yelled as he surged forward and took Barry's pale and unmoving face into his hands, shuddering at the icy-coldeness of Barry's skin beneath his palm.

" Barry wake up, Barry please, this isn't real, this _can't_ be real, I _know_ it isn't! Please, please Barry just wake up, you're scaring me!" Len shouted and he desperately shook Barry.

Barry remained silent, the coronet falling from his brow and rolling off the bier to clatter emptily onto the marble floor. With a low groan, Len took Barry into his arms, his husband limp and cold as Henry's sword fell away as well from the movement, clattering onto the floor, sounding like a low, metallic death knell as Len held Barry to him in the crook of one arm and used his other to cup Barry's cold cheek.

" Barry no." Len sobbed before he leaned in and smashed his mouth to Barry's pale gray lips, trying to chase away the frigidness of death and breath life back into his husband. Those lips that he had come to love remained unmoving beneath his own. There was no longer that scent that Len adored so much, that scent like lightening, instead there was only this sterile stench that filled Len's nostrils and choked him. Len pulled away with a gasp and then wailed loudly and unashamed as he held Barry's still form to him, burying his face into his lifeless husband's neck as he wailed in utter devastation.

He didn't know for how long he stood their holding Barry's body, rubbing at his husband's cold hands and cheeks, still trying to warm them back to life, but the shuffling of feet had Len finally looking up to see Joe, Iris, and Eddie standing across from him, their once dead eyes suddenly alive again, and accusing.

" Why are you crying when it's all your fault my brother lies dead?" Iris asked, her voice almost a low growl as she roughly ripped away the veiled obscuring her face, revealing her dark eyes alight with tears and fury.

Len felt like someone had punched a hole right through the center of his chest as he vehemently shook his head and held Barry tighter.

" No, no that's not true, you're wrong Iris!" He cried.

" Is she?" Eddie said flatly, his bright blue eyes tearful but angry as he gazed at Len.

" Look at him Len, look at Barry. He was me and Iris' brother damn it. You saved Iris from the fever, why couldn't you save him Len, why couldn't you save Barry?"

Len inhaled sharply, screwing his eyes shut as imaged began to assault his mind in rapid succession. It began with Barry looking happy and alive, smiling as he swung a practice sword, but then it shifted to the image of Barry, his eyes glassy and his face flushed as he collapsed in the center of their bedroom, his eyes rolling up into the back of his head. Then the images became that of Barry, sweating and with his eyes sunken, bruise-like dark circles under them as he shivered and gasped, in the grips of the devastating fever. Len cried out as he saw all of this, knowing that he was reliving how Mick died, only now with Barry in his place.

Thousands of images, reliving the many moments of quiet devastation and helplessness.

" Noooo!" Len cried as the images of Barry's final gasps for air before he stopped breathing and stared up at nothing with empty hazel eyes filled his mind.

A hitched sob had Len forcing his eyes open and turning his disbelieving and denying eyes finally to Joe, the king of Central Kingdom. The man looked like he aged about a dozen years, devastation and loss in every line as he stared back at Len with tears streaming from his accusing dark eyes.

" I asked you to take care of the other light of my life, you promised me you would. Is this why I gave you my son in the bonds of marriage? For him to die at the age of twenty-six without having even lived his life? You swore to me that you would keep my Barry safe, you swore to me that no harm would befall him. So why Leonard Snart, why did you let him get sick?" Joe asked thickly.

" No, your majesty please, I made sure that he was inoculated, I made sure that he and Cisco both took the medicine and continued to take small doses every month and-" Len began to explain, but fell silent with fear as Joe roared at him.

" Well a lot of GOOD that did my son!"

A strangled gasp had Len turned towards Lisa, in time to see her crumble to the ground in a heap.

" Lisa!" Len yelled. He was going to put Barry down and go to his sister, she needed him, but instead he was rooted to the spot, his feet seemingly stuck in concrete while his arms were wrapped around Barry like a vice.

Len could only watch helplessly as Lisa gasped for air where she lay, he face flushed and sweaty... as if she had a high fever. She looked back at him with her blue eyes glassy and glazing as she haltingly spoke.

" What... is it... with you... _gasp_... big brother?" She rasped out, her own eyes gazing at him in remonstration.

" Lisa?" Len said softly.

" You... already failed... to keep... Mick... from leaving me... you made... my mom leave... before that... now Barry's gone too... you... are... what's... doing this... not the...fever. It's you... _gasp_... it's always been you. You are... the disease."

" Sis no, no." Len whispered in denial at her awful words.

Len watched in horror, unable to move as Lisa let out a final gasp and writhed quietly before she lay utterly still, her eye glazed and unseeing as they stared back at him. Len was about to start screaming again when a harsh, gravelly snicker filled his ears and made him look down at Barry, because that is where the noise seemed to be coming from, his dead husband.

Len felt a new terror grip his heart as the limp body he had been holding suddenly had tension in it again. He stared in wide-eyed horror, his arms finally able to move as they fell away and Barry sat up all by himself, suddenly alive. Except his wasn't alive, living peoples eyes didn't look the Barry's.

Instead of those deep, expressive hazel green eyes Len loved to stare into, a pair of milky, grayish blue eyes stared back at him, a madness and mirth in them that made Len's flesh crawl. Worse still, the snickering continued as a wide, terrifying grin spread across Barry's pale lips, exposing teeth within grayed gums. With a slow raspy chuckle Barry's corpse spoke with a breathy, crumbling parody of Barry's voice.

" Looks to me like you are pretty great at gaining husbands, just can't seem to keep them can you oh great king of Nevar?"

" Shut up, you aren't Barry, this isn't real!" Len snarled. The corpse just tilted its head, a sickening look of warm indulgence on its face as it swung its legs over the side of the bier and crossed them daintily, going so far as to neatly fold its hands into its lap as it smiled at Len.

" Of course I am Barry dear husband, this is what I'm going to look like when you lose me, when you fail to protect me and let the fever eat me up from the inside out." The corpse rasped with that horrible grin.

" You're lying, you are nothing but an illusion my own head conjured up, you're not real!"

" Oh but I am the possibility you keep coming back to, the thing that you fear most, losing me and Lisa like you did poor Micky. Watching as we whither away and stop breathing, because you weren't strong enough or smart enough, just the sad, pathetic excuse for a king your father always said you were." The corpse grinned.

Len screwed his eyes shut against the oncoming tears and shook his head.

" You're wrong, you're not Barry, and that's not Lisa." Len said as he glared at the image of Lisa where she still lay on the floor before he turned his gaze back to the corpse.

" I love them with with all that I am, and I _will_ keep them safe!" He yelled.

" The only thing you'll be getting to do is watch, as we burn before you." The corpse snorted and began to snicker in that eerie, grating way that it had been doing before its milky eyes turned to 'Lisa's' corpse with an ugly smirk.

Len turned when he heard the sound of metal groaning and watched as one of the candelabras that was standing by the foot of the bier suddenly tipped over, Lisa's corpse directly in its path.

" No!" Len yelled, his hands outreached to try and stop the thing from falling, but he was yet again rooted to the spot and could do not more but watch as the candelabra fell on top of his sister's body, the flame from the many candles setting fire to her form. Len watched in horror as Lisa was engulfed in the bright orange flames within seconds.

A loud, cackling laugh and a metallic crash had Len ripping his gaze away from Lisa to see the other candelabra that was standing by the fort of the bier tipped over, crashing onto the bier on which Barry had been laying, some of the candles igniting the pile of fabric that lay over it, while the rest of the candles all fell on top of the still smiling corpse in a spray of sparks and hot wax.

Len stood in horrified silence as he watched the fire catch onto the wedding garments the corpse was wearing and spread, slowly consuming everything, charring the pale flesh off the corpse's hands, a smokey stench and a sizzling noise filling the air. Len watched as the corpse's still smiling face began to bubble and char, its grinning mouth turning black as it spoke.

" This is what we get for loving you Leonard Snart, it is what anyone gets when they love you King of Nevar... they get DEATH!" The corpse screamed before it began to cackled, the flames roaring and consuming it till all Len could see was a dark lump amidst the red and orange flames, still laughing.

" No!" Len screamed as he wrenched himself away, his hands to his ears as the voices of everyone he loved and cared for, from Barry all the way to Cisco roared in his ears like a chaotic cacophony saying the same things over and over again.

" Failure... Disgrace... Oath Breaker... worthless..."

" NO BARRY!" Len screamed, his voice echoing through the great hall as he screwed his eyes tightly shut."

" Geez Frosty, that imagination of yours sure knows how to get all kinds of carried away." Came a new, familiar voice that had Len freezing and everything else around him falling silent.

It was a voice he had not heard in five long year, and never thought that he could ever hear again.

" M-Mick?" Len asked as he straightened up, lowering his hands from his eyes and finally looking up.

Gone was the hellish inferno the great hall had become, instead Len found himself standing in the great hall now decked out in joyful decor, red and purple flowers everywhere, banners flying high, jubilant music playing as people danced merrily before him. He noticed that he was sitting on his throne, dressed in full finery sans a fur over-jacket. The hall was filled with music and laughter, and it helped to calm Len down somewhat. But he was jolting back into an alarmed and shocked state as realization dawned on him about just where he was now, this was the annual Nevarian Winter Solstice Ball from more than a decade ago.

As he turned his attention back to the people dancing jovially before him, Len gasped when he caught sight of a teenage Lisa skipping and twirling, laughing brightly and seeming to be having the time of her life. No black veil, to laying dead on the steps of the dais, not flames.

" Sis!" Len shouted as he pushed himself up from his throne and moved to run forward towards his very much alive, if younger than she should be sister. But before he could take a step forward, a hand was firmly seizing him by the back of the purple and blue Tudor jacket he was wearing and yanking him backwards.

" What the Hell?" Len yelled, but he gasped in shock as his back collided with a warm and solid chest while strong arms wrapped around him, holding him in place. As the scent of sandalwood and cinnamon caught his nose, Len felt the breath leave his body as the voice from before, so familiar, and so missed spoke into his ear.

" Let's let Goldie dance, you can see she's having a grand old time of it. You and I gotta get to some talking that's way more important." Len turned his head and stared with comically wide eyes as he found himself face to face with a smiling Michael Edan Rory, dressed in a fine tudor jacket of fiery, reddish bronze with a chain of gold and rubies and a deep red sash over his left shoulder, the same outfit he had been wearing when he and Len had met at the dessert table on this night from memory. Len's jaw worked but no sound came out as he let Mick pull him away from the Solstice festivities and out the side door to the great hall.

(Author's note: Please try listening to " Thedas Love Theme" from the soundtrack to ' Dragon Age: Inquisition')

Once they were outside the Great Hall with the jovial music distant in the background, Len found himself wrapped in a tight embrace with a pair of hot, familiar lips on his own. Instinctively, Len melted against Mick, kissing his first husband back fervently. But after a few minutes Len remembered that this wasn't real, it couldn't be, and besides that what about Barry? With a small grunt Len pulled away and put some distance between them, holding Mick back at arm's length as he spoke.

" Just what the hell is going on here?" Mick just shrugged, looking as irreverent as he always did.

" Isn't it obvious? You're dreaming, vividly I might add because I have it on good authority that I have been a pile of ash sitting inside the urn you picked out for me down in the royal crypt for the last five years." Len just blinked slowly, wondering how deeply he had lost his mind.

He jerked in surprise when Mick reached out and poked him right between the eyes, the sensation feeling so vividly real as Mick spoke.

" Would you calm down already? It was bad enough you had that nightmare just now, seeing Lisa and Barry burning and hearing all that Bullshit, but you are making it very hard to get through to you." The 'dead' former Prince Consort of Nevar said sternly.

Len took a deep breath and did his best to calm down like his 'dead' first husband asked. As he took a look around, Len was stunned to see that he and Mick were not out in the hallway of the palace like they should have been since they had left the Great Hall, instead they were standing outside on the grand balcony that stood clear on the other side of the palace, and overlooked the whole of Nevar. The moon was full and glowing high up in the cloudless night sky, thousands of stars twinkling brightly. Len remembered that this was where he and Mick had disappeared off to for a bit more privacy after they had met and gotten to talking.

It had been a beautiful night, the start of their love. Len blinked back the tears and looked at Mick.

" This isn't real, why is this happening to me?" He asked softly. Mick smiled warmly and reached up, tenderly cupping Len's cheek as he spoke.

" This is happening because you are finally moving forward with your life and you've found happiness again, but your guilt and fears don't want to let go of you." Mick explained.

Len mulled over Mick's words. Was he finally moving forward? Had he found happiness? Unbidden, images began to play through his mind again, this time playing back the truth and not the nightmare. It showed him his five years of loneliness and grief, it showed him the moment he and Barry first met face to face, it showed him their wedding day, and that fateful moment where they had reached for the same goblet of wine. Image after image of his and Barry's life together passed before Len's mind, passing through the major events, like Barry's birthday, how happy Len had made him by surprising him with his family, that awful day that he had gotten drunk and hurt Barry so badly, the next day chasing after him and finding Barry at the shores of Lake Constantina. Their arguments, their tears, him finally telling Barry that he loved him, deeply. And finally, their time up at the mountain chateau, and when they had at last made love for the first time. The last image Len saw was that of Barry smiling that bright smile of his at him.

Len didn't even realize he was crying until he felt a thumb gently wipe under his eyes, Mick reaching up with his other hand and doing the same for Len's other eye. As he looked up at his first love, Len felt that familiar, cold and stinging spike of guilt. Mick just shook his head.

" Uh-uh, you're not going to keep doing this to yourself Frosty, I forbid it." Mick said in all seriousness.

" But what about you? I love Barry, I do, but I love you too." Len said, sounding so torn.

" I know you do, I know. But I am not with you anymore, and I can't be no matter how much I want to." Mick said quietly, a sad longing in his own deep brown eyes. Len's breath hitched as he surged forward and threw his arms around Mick, squeezing him tightly. Mick returned the hug just as fervently. They stayed that was for several long moments before Mick spoke.

" Frosty, everyone's been telling you this, so now I am saying it. You are alive, you still have a long life ahead of you. Cherish the time we had together, but don't be stuck in the past. I do want you to move on, because you wasting away isn't what I want, and it wouldn't bring us back together anyhow. You are loved by so many. Lisa, the kingdom, and now Bartholomew Henry Allen."

Len drew back and looked at Mick.

" You aren't mad?" He asked quietly.

" Of course not, besides the obvious fact that I am _dead_ , that Bartholomew's a stunner. I mean have you seen those legs? They go on for miles. And that face, he's gorgeous with those green eyes and those cheekbones!" Mick exclaimed, and then with one of his signature smirks, Mick leaned in close and looked Len straight in the eye as he spoke.

" Not to mention, the place where those legs and his back meet is pretty damn fine looking as well." He grumbled huskily with a cheeky little wink. Len found himself snorting back a laugh and rolling his eyes.

" Shoulda known, even dead you'd still be a rogue, cause there you go talking about _my_ new husband's ass."

" And you love me for it." Mick grinned as he continued. " Besides, it's a praiseworthy ass."

Len felt himself grow somber again, his eyes burning.

" I do love you, and miss you, so much." Mick nodded before he leaned in a pressed his forehead to Len's.

" I know you do, and I wish things were different. But things really aren't that bad. You made sure to give me a proper send off, Nevar still holds me in high esteem, and Barry's done nothing but be respectful towards my memory. Hell he thought I was invincible looking and that Cisco kid thought I was a really good looking dude when they finally discovered my portrait." Mick said with a chuckle, Len joining in quietly as he reached up and ran his hands over those stubble covered cheeks and goateed chin. It all felt so real. Taking in a deep, shuddering breath Len spoke.

" A part of me is always going to love you, but I am in love with Barry, somehow, someway he's made life worth living again." Mick rumbled and nodded against Len's forehead.

" Yeah, 'bout damn time too. Five years is long enough, _I_ , the one you mourned, am telling you this." Mick said before he drew back and made sure Len was looking him dead in the eye as he spoke.

" Now you need to listen to me, really listen." He began, waiting for Len to nod before he continued.

" What happened to me was in no way your fault. You didn't cause it, and there was nothing you could have done at that point to save me, the plant from which the medicine everyone now takes wasn't discovered yet. Me loving you isn't what killed me, that random fever caused by whatever it was that causes illnesses is what did me in." Mick paused here as Len ducked his head, losing the battle to keep the tears at bay. Mick reached under Len's chin and gently made his former husband look back up at him as he continued.

" That old man of yours was a bastard and an idiot for not seeing the gift he had in you and Lisa, he let his grief turn to hate and rob him of his family. Lewis is dead and gone, so don't let his actions and words keep crippling you for one moment longer. You are not worthless, you are no failure or oath breaker, and the farthest thing from a disgrace, you are a great King, and an even better man. It's the truth, and it is why it was even possible for Barry to agree to marry you without ever even meeting, you won him because he really did see your heart through the actions you took to save his sister's life." Len let out a sob and pulled Mick to him in another tight hug. Mick hugged Len back before he drew away and held Len by the shoulders as he spoke.

" I know how deeply you've fallen for Barry, and I just want you to know that it is okay, perfectly okay Frosty. Like you said, he's that bolt of lightening that brought you back to life after so many years. It's not just a matter of how much you deserve him, but how much he deserves to have someone like you as his husband, and I think he does, I think he really does." Len found himself smiling, Mick's words like a soothing balm to the very last parts of him that had still been aching with lose.

Mick smiled back and then sighed deeply, reach down and taking Len's hands into his own.

" You are going to go on with the rest of your life with Barry by your side, the both of you are going to bring Nevar to new and better heights together. You and him are gonna grow old together and leave the living world together as well, he has you now, and you have him. I know that you will always love me, that love is ours and ours alone, separate from what you now have, and are building with Barry. You keep that part of us with you for as long as you live, and as far as I am concerned, you're gonna die a wrinkly, happy old man. When you finally leave the realm of the living it'll either be with Barry or you'll wait for him on the other side, but that part of you I am talking about, that part of you that will always be mine will come and find me here in this place, this moment of time because I will be waiting for you here until that time comes. Do you understand?" Mick asked.

With tears streaming from his eyes once more, Len nodded, unable to speak.

Mick sighed and smiled warmly before he pulled on Len's hands, making him step forward. Mick leaned in a pressed a lingering, chaste kiss to Lien's lip before he drew away and spoke, everything beginning to fade and grow lighter around them.

" Goodbye my love, you were the one for me while I lived. I free you now, so go and be the one for Barry." Mick said softly, his voice faded and far away as everything whited out before Len's eyes.

 _Back in the real world..._

With a soft gasp, steely blue eyes shot open and blinked rapidly. As everything came back into focus, adjusting to the darkness of the room, Len slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position and let out a deep, shaky breath. He reached up with a trembling hand when he felt the few tears that fell from his eyes. But then with a jolt, Len turned his head to the side to eye the rest of the bed and felt a immense wave of relief wash over him when he caught sight of his beloved Barry, laying blissfully asleep beside him with the sheets having fallen to his waist. Len wanted nothing more than to pounce on Barry and take his husband into his arm, to feel his warm and living skin against his own, to kiss those vibrant lips and just rejoice that the terrible vision he had seen before had really been just a dream, an awful dream.

Instead Len refrained, both because he did not want to disturb his sleeping husband, but also because there was something else he felt he had to do. Reaching out, Len gently pulled up the sheets so that Barry was better covered as he slept, before he carefully climbed out of the bed. He grabbed up the robe he had tossed over a nearby chair earlier in the night and donned it before he made his way over to the two glass doors that stood a few feet away parallel to the bed, that led out onto the stone and timber balcony that was attached to the bedroom. As quietly as he could, Len undid the lock and pulled the door open wide enough for him to quickly pass through and shut before letting to much cold air in.

As the brisk early morning air surrounded him, Len padded barefoot across the stone towards the wooden railing of the balcony, his eyes turned up towards the mountains that loomed up ahead. The large pointed peaks stood tall and black against the slowly brightening sky. The moon stood out blue, painting the snow over the mountains in the same pale shade, the light of dawn slowly approaching. As he gazed out at the gorgeous scene before him, Len found himself smiling as he spoke out into the air.

" Goodbye, my fiery rogue, my heatwave, till we meet again like you said, under those Solstice stars." He said into the oncoming brightness, his breath a soft white mist as he felt a wave of peace slowly wash over him. He allowed a single tear to escape him, the faint taste of cinnamon on his lips.

But then the moment ended and Len found himself shivering because damn, it was really cold out there and he was buck naked under his flimsy little robe. With a small laugh Len rushed back towards the doors, his bare feet curling as he quietly ducked back inside where it was nice and warm. Re-locking the doors, Len did his best to quietly back his way back to bed, and Barry. Len quickly stripped off the robe and tossed it back on the chair before he made his way over to the side of the bed and carefully climbed back under the covers. He was about to lay back down on his side when he nearly jumped out of his skin as a warm, familiar hand hooked him by the side of his neck and pulled him across the bed into a waiting pair of arms.

Len grinned widely in the dark as Barry, with his eye still closed wrapped him up tightly in his arms and rested his head over Len's. With a small sigh Barry spoke against Len's ear, his voice scratchy with sleep but no less commanding.

" Go back to sleep Popsicle, you can explain yourself once the sun comes up." Letting out a small chuckle and marveling at how Barry was not as deep a sleeper as he let on, Len wrapped his warms around Barry and nodded.

" As you wish, husband mine." Len replied against Barry's neck.

Within a few minutes he was warmed from the chill from outside and drifting off into peaceful slumber once more. And if one of Len's hands happened to trail down Barry's back and cup one of the firm yet supple globes that connected said back to those long, long legs well, could he really be blamed? It really was a derriere worthy of praise. And Barry himself didn't seem to mind at all if the smile Len felt against the side of his neck from his husband as Len finally drifted off was anything to go on.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

Warning: Sexual content and Sensuality in this Chapter

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Chapter 12

" So, how silly do you think I am being?" Len asked self-depricatingly as he rubbed at his scratchy, tear-reddened eyes. He and Barry were currently laying side by side in their bed, the room bright with the full glow of morning sunlight. Len lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, emotionally drained.

True to his word, once the light of the morning had slowly filled the room, and he and Barry had woken up, Len had explained his actions in the dark early hours, why he had gone outside to the balcony in the coldness, and also the vivid dream that had driven him to such.

As Len lay there, the bed shifted beside him, the sheets rustling a little before Barry's quietly smiling, living face came into view above him as his husband braced himself on his hands and loomed over him, looking down at him with those gorgeous hazel-green eyes he loved so much.

" Not silly at all and you know it." Barry said in reply before he lowered his head and pressed his lips to Len's in a gentle kiss, so tender it made Len's heart twinge with both need and gratitude. Len reached up and wrapped his arms around Barry, letting his hands wander over the smooth planes of his husband's back. They both groaned low against each other's lips as Len pulled Barry down flush on top of him. When they drew back several long moments later, it was a grinning Barry who went off to the bathroom to get the special oils and lubricant they loved to use so much, making sure to put on a show for Len by swaying his hips and arched his back a little as he walked. When Barry came back with the necessary items, his laughter echoed through the room as Len was on him in a heartbeat and letting him know just how much he had appreciated the show.

Things quickly devolved into slow, fiery passion as Len and Barry made love to each other with great care and tenderness.

 _A couple of hours later..._

Len smiled as he held out a forkful of his cheese and pepper omelet for Barry to taste, taking great joy in the simple act of feeding his husband. There was no teasing or suggestiveness this time around, only eating and enjoying each other's company. Len's smile widened when Barry humorously accepted the offering, opening his mouth wide and making a show of devouring the piece of omelet.

" You must have been a bear in a past life cause not only do you snore like one, you have the appetite to match." Len snarked, eying the already diminishing mountain of food on Barry's plate, his husband's _second_ helping!

Barry just chuckled brightly as he held out a raspberry scone for Len to take, which the King did eagerly, Barry knowing how much his husband loved raspberries.

" What can I say, when the cooks are as fantastic as they are, you each a lot and then some." Barry grinned before he went about polishing off the rest of the strips of breakfast steak on his plate. As he watched Barry eat and enjoy his breakfast, Len couldn't help but admire the young man sitting across from him at the table. Something about last night, with the horrible nightmare that turned into him finally making peace with Mick and letting him go, shifted something monumentally within Leonard. Even with how far he and Barry had made it so far regarding their relationship, they had always been then moderately sized rock of guilt that settled within the lowest pit of Len's stomach, it had always been there and made its presence known whenever the blissfulness of being newly in love would fade away in the quiet moments. Like he had no right to feel happy with Barry despite loving him so much. Now though, Len could not feel that rock of guilt anywhere, he felt lighter, freer, just totally unburdened.

Barry looked up when he saw that Len was just staring at him instead of eating his breakfast.

" Len what's wrong?" Barry asked in concern, in reply Len just shook his head and smiled.

" Nothing, I love you." He said simply.

Even though they had said these words to each other many, many times, Barry noticed that this time, Len had said it a different way, with a different tone that seemed more reverent than any other time he had heard Len say it. It made something inside Barry turn warm, so resplendently warm that the younger man found himself blushing under his husband's striking blue eyes that were filled with such admiration, a kind of admiration that hadn't been there before.

" I-I love you too Len." Barry said softly, letting out a small chuckle and suddenly feeling a bit shy as he ducked his head.

Len just smiled and continued his admiring for a few more long moments before he finally took mercy on his blushing husband and went back to eating himself. He did laugh though when Barry offered him a forkful of his steak, which he gladly accepted.

Once breakfast was eaten and the table clear, Barry and Len headed upstairs to change into some of the winter attire they had packed. Once they were clothed in heavy jackets, trousers, and boots, they headed downstairs where the servants were waiting with their heavy winter riding cloaks and swords. Once Barry and Len donned these they headed out into the crisp air where Borealis and Speedy stood saddled, cloaked, and ready for the ride along the mountain trails that Len had promised to take Barry on. Two of the six guards that had come up the mountain with them followed on their horses at a distance where they would be close enough to be able to come to aid if need be, but far enough to give Len and Barry their privacy.

They mounted up and headed off down one of the smooth, less treacherous trails that cut through a small thicket of evergreen trees that surrounded one side of the mountain base where the chateau stood but led to a special place. The air was crisp but the winds were low and not biting today, lending a pleasant freshness as Len and Barry rode through the evergreens, a light dusting of snow over the dark green trees and over the dirt trail. As they rode, both Len and Barry were ever vigilant along with the guards, for while it was winter and the bears were most likely hibernating, their were still packs of mountain wolves that roamed over the entire range, following after the elk and moose that lived up here.

They robe in comfortable silence save of the neighs and hoofbeats that came from their stallions. It was Barry who spoke, finally breaking the silence.

" So, where does this trail lead my King?" Barry asked with a smile and curiosity shining in his eyes. Len smiled back and gave Borealis' neck and light pat before he spoke.

" That my dear Prince, is a surprise, so patience. But tell me, did you find that book in the library I told you about over lunch yesterday?" Len asked, smoothly changing the subject.

Barry accepted the deflection, both because he knew that wherever Len was taking them would indeed be something spectacular, as his surprises often were if the gorgeous red stallion he was currently riding atop was anything to go on, and also because he had indeed found that book, a hilarious comedy anthology about the recounts of healers who had traversed the realm and encountered all manner of minor ailments and misfortunes. Barry had been unable to put the book down as he read through tail after tail of people seeking medical attention after indulging in some ideas so awfully bad, they were brilliant.

With a laugh, Barry began to regale Len with a few of the tales he could recall. A few moments later Len and Barry's combined laughter was filling the air, especially after Barry told Len the story of this one unfortunate farmer who had been gluing a sign onto one of his buildings regarding fresh produce for sale. By some act of whoever runs the universe, the man had jumped down from the ladder he had been using but left the bucket of glue he had been using on the ladders top step. A stray cat had jumped out from the bushes and started the farmer, he had backed up into the ladder and naturally, the bucket had tipped over and its sticky contents had fallen right on top of him, dousing him thoroughly. As the farmer had blindly tried to make his way back to his house to get help, the family dog happened to run out, a tiny little terrier dog. Before the farmer could stop the little fellow, the dog had rushed forward and jumped into his owner's arms and summarily got stuck to the farmer's chest because of the glue. On top of the dog getting stuck, a pair of the farmer's prized egg laying hens happened to be loose in the yard, and upon seeing the Farmer in his state had gone on the attack, jumping on him and pecking at him until there taloned feet and sharp beaks had gotten stuck in the glue.

By the time the healer had arrive the farmer was sitting in dismay with the family dog stuck to his chest, a white hen stuck to his back and flapping her wings so much that feathers were flying everywhere and getting stuck to his head, while a tan hen was stuck over his shoulder doing the same thing, and worse still the glue had started to harden. Needless to say the healer had had his work cut out for him, but thankfully the dog, hens, and the farmer were all disconnected thanks to several gallons of caster oil and good old-fashioned elbow grease.

This and other stories followed as Len and Barry laughed the rest of the way down the trail to the point where Barry's cheeks were bright red and there were actually tears streaming from Len's eyes, both of their guts aching to the point where the muscles had gone numb, but they loved it.

Still chuckling, Len felt his smiling widen when he saw the clearing up ahead.

" Hey Barry, there's the spot up ahead, race you!" Len said, quickly pointing before he urged Borealis into a full gallop.

" Hey no fair!" Barry yelled with a laugh as he urged Speedy to a full run as well.

The two stallions went at it with the best, both animals powerful and fast. It was Speedy that took the lead about halfway down the trail, but then with a powerful neigh, Borealis and Len pulled up ahead at the last minute. Barry watched in awe as Len rode past him, Borealis' ebony black mane and tail flying along with Len's cloak. As the reached the end of the trail that led into the clearing, Borealis reared onto his powerful hind-legs and trumpeted in triumph while Len held on and laughed brightly.

" Yeah!" Barry yelled as he and Speedy galloped the rest of the way down the trail and pulled up beside Len and Borealis. They both gazed at each other, the exhilaration still palpable while Speedy and Borealis nuzzled at each other, talking as only horses could talk to each other.

" That was awesome." Len grinned, while Barry laughed loud and nodded. There was a moment of charged silence between them before Len gestured for them to head for the clearing. They urged their horses into a slow walk as they entered the clearing that stood at the side of an imposing rock face, the side of the largest mountain in the range. It was a stunning sight, with the grass in the clearing still green enough despite the light frost. The horses would be perfectly safe and the two guards would be there waiting at the mouth of the trail, ever vigilant.

Len and Barry dismounted and let their stallions go off to graze and relax, while Barry followed Len as his husband led them towards the rock face.

" Is this the place?" Barry asked as he and Len took a moment to gaze up at the seemingly unending wall of rock.

" In a way, it's actually inside the mountain." Len said simply while Barry's jaw dropped and he stared at Len in disbelief.

" Follow me Kid" Len said lightly as he started walking towards a place where the rock curved inward. Barry followed eagerly, wondering just where Len was taking him.

" Wow." Barry whispered when he followed Len around the bend in the rock and saw that hidden behind it was a staircase of crude steps that were cut into the rock and led up to a pair of circular wooden doors with a Nevarian Snowflake emblem carved into them. Len just smiled at the awe that was already spread across his husband's face, looking forward to see the expression grow ten-fold one he showed Barry what was behind this pair of hidden doors.

Len led the way up the steps, fishing out a large brass key from his jacket pocket. Barry was doing his best not to bounce on the balls of his feet, he was so excited. Len made quick work of using the key to get the matching heavy brass lock on the doors open. The heavy wooden doors groaned as Barry and Len each too a door and pushed them open together, the Nevarian Snowflake emblem falling away to reveal a large, darkened tunnel.

" You got any matches Darling?" Barry deadpanned. Len just smirked as strode into the darkened tunnel, looking at Barry over his shoulder as he spoke.

" Don't need them, got something way better." Barry stepped forward himself into the darkened cave tunnel and watched as Len reached for something that was affixed high up on the tunnel wall.

A closer look showed him that it was a rotatable mirror. Barry watched as Len carefully angled the mirror so that it caught the full light of the early afternoon light outside. The mirror seemed even more reflective than a normal mirror, so when it caught the light and reflected it back string enough for a visible beam of light, Barry gasped in astonishment and watched as Len directed the beam of reflected light towards another mirror that was mounted a few feet away on the opposite wall of the tunnel. This caused a chain reaction that was breathtaking as Barry watched the beam of light get gently reflected in a crude zig zag across multiple mounted mirror, lighting up the entire tunnel in a soft light, making it clearly visible.

Barry was grinning ear to ear, which in turn had Len smiling warmly as he ushered Barry forward. The pair began making their way down the now illuminated tunnel. Len was feeling giddy inside, but also very nervous as well, for the place he was taking Barry was a special place, a very special and private place that very few people knew about. He really hoped that Barry would like it, and Len also hoped that his own nerves wouldn't fizzle out on him.

As they walked, Barry looked ahead and could see the end of the tunnel. There was a faint orange light emanating from it. When they were just about to reach the end of the tunnel, Barry suddenly found himself gently seized into a slow, passionate kiss. Barry let out a muffled laugh, letting his eyes fall shut as he kissed his husband back and wrapped his arms around Len. It was almost like they were doing a little dance as Len kept kissing Barry and maneuvering him through the opening at the end of the tunnel.

When they finally drew apart, Barry only had eyes for Len, which made Len smile wide before he spoke.

" Have a look husband." He said as he pulled back and stepped out of the way, finally revealing what he wanted to show Barry.

Len watched with quiet pleasure as Barry's entire face grew slack with awe, his mouth hanging slightly open and his eyes wide at the wondrous sight before him. There surrounding them, was a cave filled to the brim with crystal. It was like something straight out of a dream.

Crystals large and small were everywhere, jutting from the ceilings and the floors, glowing in more hues than Barry could count.

" Oh wow." Barry whispered as he took a few stepped further into the gave, his eyes wide and riveted to everything they could see as his slack jawed slowly turned into bright, awestruck grin.

The crystals were gorgeous with their natural geometric shapes and their many, many colors. There were the warm crystals of reds, oranges, yellows, whites and bright greens, and the cooler shaded crystals of blues, purples, and indigos. Some were iridescent and shifted between colors with every angle Barry looked at them.

To Barry's further wonder, there was a deep pool of iridescent looking water, more crystals jutting out from it and glowing beneath the surface. It was all just magnificent to behold. But while Barry was transfixed by the crystal cave in sheer awe at having ever seen anything like it, Len only had eyes for his husband.

Len watch, in awe himself as the soft glow from the crystals seemed to gently caress Barry's skin, making almost glow along with them. The light brought out the green in Barry's eyes, making them even more striking and warm than usual. Barry looked absolutely exquisite, and Len could not hold back a sigh as he spoke the one word that could come to his mind in that moment.

" Beautiful." He said softly.

Barry turned his gaze away from the crystal, ready to voice his agreement with Len that it all really was beautiful, but then he noticed they way Len was looking right at him and not at the crystals, making Barry realize that Len was not talking about the crystals at all when he said what he said.

" L-Len." Barry said a little breathlessly, feeling his face heat up at the open admiration he saw in Len's steely blue eyes.

With a soft chuckle Barry rushed forward, pulling Len into a tight embrace, the older man chuckling too as he returned the hug whole-heartedly and spoke.

" Well, what do you think of my surprise?" He asked.

" It's amazing Len, I've never seen anything like it in all my life." Barry replied in all honesty as he took another look around.

" Come on then, I gotta show you some of my favorites." Len said as he grabbed Barry by the hand and led his husband further into the cave.

Len spent the next hour showing Barry his favorite crystals and parts of the cave, like the gorgeous formation of clear crystals that jutted out of one part of the ceiling, swirling out and looking almost like a chandelier, and the smaller pool that was filled with glowing red and purple crystals just a few feet away from the clear structure. There was the patch of cerulean blue rectangular crystals, and the magenta colored cluster by a far wall that looked almost flower-like with sharp, pointed crystals that looked like petals. Barry absolutely loved how animated and enthusiastic Len was being as he showed him this absolutely wondrous place.

" Hey check it out, this is my absolute favorite spot." Len said as he lead Barry through an archway lined with little blue tear-drop shaped crystals on along the ceiling.

When Barry's eyes fell on the chamber on the other side of the archway he gasped at the sight that greeted him.

There in the middle of the chamber stood a massive cluster of pure white crystals that swirled and jutted up and outward to looked almost like a pair of wings amidst and rounded back of small white prism like crystals. It was by the far the most spectacular part of the entire crystal cave.

" Holy..." Barry trailed off as he stepped closer to the massive structure.

Len smiled and let go of Barry's hand, watching as his husband made his way towards the massive crystal structure. They were both over six feet tall, and yet against the structure they looked comically small. The light of the white crystals bathed them both in soft white light as Barry reached out and ran a reverent hand over one of the swirling crystals that made up the wing-like parts of the overall structure.

For a while they both just gazed at the crystalline structure that glowed almost angelic before them. It was Barry who finally broke the peaceful silence.

" Len, tell me everything you know about this place, please, I wanna know everything you know." He said softly, loving how Len looked with the soft light from the crystal illuminating his handsome features.

Len smiled warmly and nodded before he held out his hand for Barry. Barry grasped it firmly and allowed Len to pulled him away from the crystals to a nearby boulder with a flat surface. They both sat down side by side, taking of the swords that hung from their backs and setting them down before they took a moment to stare at the crystal structure from a distance. Then with a sigh Len spoke.

" I had just turned fourteen, Lewis had sent me and Lisa up here to the chateau for a couple of weeks to and I quote "give us a taste of fresh air", I know he just wanted to not have to look at us for a while and make sure we weren't around to disturb him while he binged on wine and turned the palace into his own personal playground of debauchery." Len began with a humorless smirk.

Barry reached up and gripped his husband's shoulder tightly, conveying his support without saying a word as Len continued.

" Me and Lisa were happy up here, away from him for a while, a respite from his constant hate. Lisa liked to stay inside, enjoy the fire and play with her dolls, the governess was there to look after us both. I preferred going outside and exploring the mountains and riding. It was while I was riding along the trail we took that the clearing caught my eye. It was around this time of year, winter just starting, so I left my horse to graze and decided to just have a look around on foot. That was when I saw the mouth of the cave. Back then there were no steps, just a rocky ramp. Me being me, I took it as a challenge, I was fifteen and I had my sword with me so I thought that I'd be able to take on whatever was in here, if there was something. " Len said with one of his cocky smirks that had Barry grinning and leaning in to pressed a lingering peck to his husband's lips before Len continued.

" The tunnel was pitch black, with only that orange light at the end. I followed it, using my sword like a blind-man would a cane and then I reached the cave." Len said with a nostalgic smile as he remembered his open mouthed astonishment at discovering this place for the first time. Barry found himself chuckling as he rested his cheek over his hand on Len's shoulder and spoke.

" Did you lose your fourteen year old mind?" He asked, to which Len let out a rumbling chuckle and nodded.

" Spectacularly."

Barry and Len's mingled chuckles filled the air and echoed through the crystal chamber as Len regaled Barry with the tale of his first time here in the cave. How he had spent hours playing amidst the crystals, even breaking a couple when he wanted to see which one's he could dump off of. Needless to say he had caused a complete panic at the chateau when no one could find him, scared Lisa to death, and been grounded by the governess for the rest of their stay at the chateau.

" I may have been cooped up, but I never forgot this place." Len said with a sigh as he looked around and then took a deep breath before he turned back to Barry and spoke.

" Over the years, I fixed the place up myself, installed the mirrors for the light trick you saw and asked a foreign company to make the doors and install them, swearing them to utmost secrecy. It started out that this was me being selfish and not wanting to share anything with anyone for once in my life, and then as I grew older it became this place of solitude where I could just come and enjoy the crystals and the silence, a place where I could just think." Len explained.

" Did you bring Lisa and Mick here to see it?" Barry asked, feeling his heart starting to pound for some reason as he waited for Len to answer him.

Len just looked at Barry for a long moment before he shook his head.

" For all these years since I discovered it, I haven't told a soul, not my sister, not even Mick. I've never brought anyone in here, until today." Len said quietly as he met Barry's stunned gaze.

" L-Len, what do you mean?" Barry asked uncomprehending. Len smiled before he reached up and took Barry's cheek into his palm as he spoke.

" I mean exactly what I said, no one else has ever been here with me except for you, not my sister, or the husband I shared my life with for thirteen years, just you." Len said softly, smiling at Barry's flabbergasted countenance.

Barry needed a moment to process this quite but no less monumental revelation. This place, this wonderful place, Len kept hidden from everyone since he was fourteen years old. He didn't reveal it to Lisa and more surprisingly, not to Mick Rory. Out of everyone on this earth, Len chose to share this place, this place straight out of a dream, with him, and him alone. It was understandable that Barry was finding it hard to come up with a proper response. Instead, he spoke the first words that came to his stunned mind.

" W-Why me Len?" He asked softly, his green eyes searching Len's steely blue.

Len nodded, expecting the question. With another steadying breath, Len began to explain.

" I told you this morning about my dream, how I envisioned you and Lisa dying and burning in front of me, and how Mick was suddenly there and it was the Winter Solstice Ball where we met." Barry nodded, feeling his heart ache that the fresh memory of what Len had recounted to him through his tears. Len felt his own eyes burn, but he held back the tears for he had had enough of them as he gazed warmly at Barry and spoke.

" Well Mick's message was loud and clear, that I needed to let go of my guilt over what happened to him. After I woke up and went outside to the balcony, I just spoke to him, told him goodbye, and that the part of me that loved him would see him again under those solstice stars someday but, something else happened, something I didn't expect." Len said.

" What do you mean Len? What happened out there?" Barry asked curiously.

" Barry, I felt something lighten inside me, like something that I had been clinging onto finally left me in that moment, disappearing with my breath." Len said, frowning for a moment, trying to find the right words. He then continued.

" It was like that part of me that I was talking about, the part that belonged to Mick actually went to go be with him, like I finally let it go. I will miss Mick always, he was my first love, but my heart's not yearning for him every second of every day anymore like it was for those five years I mourned him." Len said before he pulled a stunned Barry into his arms, holding him tightly as he spoke into Barry's hair.

" I feel free Barry, I feel so free." He said softly with a tiny, breathless laugh as he went on.

" After we were married, I really did want to get close to you, to get to know you, you did intrigue me, but I would feel so guilty for even thinking about it because I felt like I was betraying Mick's memory if I even showed the barest interest in you. I ended up feeling like an ass anyway because I knew I was hurting you by staying away, and Lisa was the one to tell me to my face."

Barry began to protest, to say that he was okay, that there weren't any hard feeling but Len just gave him a firm squeeze, silencing him.

" I know I hurt you whenever I would make an excuse not to spend time with you, I know. But then I found you in the rooms I shared with Mick, you told me about how you lost your parents, and we finally got to talking to each other, we became friends. I found that you were someone I could spend hours with and not notice the time slipping away. It wasn't because you were this new person living here in Nevar with us, it was because you are who you are, this kind, amazing man who could put up with me and the kind of baggage I came with." Len said, pausing here to compose himself, while he felt Barry exhale shakily against him. Once he felt that he could speak steadily enough, Len drew back so that he could look Barry in the eye, those hazel green eyes he loved so much already over bright with emotion.

Len smiled, feeling his own eyes fill, but stubbornly keeping the tears back as he spoke.

" I brought you here to this place that was before known only to me for a reason, so that I could tell you something that I can say to you now free of any guilt, that I can mean with every fiber of my being, and that I truly believe with every fiber of my being."

Barry felt his heart pounding in his chest hard as he took in a deep breath and spoke.

" Tell me husband, please tell me what you have to say." He said softly, almost whispering it.

Len leaned in and pressed his forehead to Barry's, holding the other man's face in his hands as he spoke.

" I brought you here to tell you that you are the true love of my life, that you have become the one who holds all of my heart, who occupies all of my thoughts and dreams, and who's soul fits as the perfect mate to mine. I know that you have been devoted to me ever since you got here to Nevar, but now I am telling you that as your husband, I devote myself unto you, and you alone for as long as I live, and even beyond it, unto whatever afterlife awaits us. My place will always be by your side because that is where I want to be, and it's all I will ever need. I thought that Mick was it for me but I was wrong, it's you, there can never be anyone else. You are it for me Bartholomew Henry Allen."

There was a beat of charged silence, and then Barry let out a strangled noise. The next thing Len knew he was being full on tackled by his overjoyed husband who then proceeded to squeeze the oxygen out if his lungs quite efficient. With a shuddering breath and a watery little chuckle Barry spoke.

" Y-You're it for me too Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, you were it for me from the moment I saw you. I love you, God I love you with all my heart." Barry said spoftly.

Len let his eyes flutter shut, a few tears leaking through the seam of his eyelids as he pressed soft kisses to Barry's temple and neck before he spoke against his husband's ear.

" I love you too Barry, and now I can say that I do with all my heart too. It's yours Barry, its all yours." Len said softly. Barry nodded, but then he drew back a little so that he could press his forehead to Len's as he spoke.

" I can't have all your heart, Lisa gets a piece of it too." Barry said with a tearful smile. Len just chuckled softly as he stared into this hazel eyes, so vibrant and warm in the crystal light.

" You're always so considerate Kid, she gets the love she's entitled to as my baby sis, but you, you get my passion, my devotion, my commitment, my friendship... my need." Len said huskily before he took Barry's smiling lips in a slow, deep kiss. Barry's whole body seemed to sigh as he melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around his husband's shoulders, one of his hands running over the downey softness of that close-cropped, salt and pepper hair he loved so much.

One would think that things would devolve after that, that Barry and Len would partake in the carnal pleasures the way they were kissing would normally lead to. But instead, they drew apart and simply held each other close. It was as if they had thought the same thing in that moment, that the cave was not the kind of place to indulge in such pleasures. Instead the sat on the boulder with their sides pressed together, bathed in the crystal light, and holding each other's hands as they gazed on the angelic crystal structure in the center of the chamber.

This was their place, and they didn't need to partake in such things to make it so. Instead they sat side by side in perfect silence in the most beautiful part of the cave.

They could have sat there for hours in that peaceful silence, but said silence was broken about half and hour later by the loud rumbling of a stomach.

Len threw his head back and laughed before he pulled Barry a chuckling into a bear hug.

" Guess our time's up, the bottomless pit has spoken." Len snarked about Barry's stomach, but then he was falling silence as his own stomach let out a groan that rivaled his husbands.

" Mine's isn't the only one it seems." Barry grinned before he leaned in and took Len's mouth in a less than chaste kiss.

They broke apart with a laugh a few moments later, their chuckles echoing through the crystal cave as they helped each other strap their swords back onto their backs. Once that was done, Len and Barry slowly made their way towards the cave entrance, taking some time to have a last look around at the many different kinds of crystals before they reached the opening of the tunnel that would lead them outside.

As they took one final look at the crystal cave, Barry turned to Len and spoke.

" Thank you for showing me this place." He said softly as he smiled at his husband. Len nodded and smiled back softly as he spoke.

" You're the only someone I wanted to share it with." He said softly.

Barry ducked his head shyly to hide his wide grin, and Len was about to lean in for another kiss when his husband's stomach let out another loud groan. Barry chuckled while Len full out laughed as they finally took their leave of the crystal cave, now newly christened as their secret place, no longer just Len's alone.

They walked back up the tunnel in comfortable silence, chuckling whenever Barry or Len's stomach let out the calls of hunger. When they finally reached the doors, Len made his way over to the first mirror and turned it away from the early afternoon sun, thus plunging the tunnel back into darkness. They then stepped back out into the crisp air and Len when about shutting the carved wooden doors to the entrance of the tunnel. Once he had closed them, he fished out the large key from his pocket and locked the doors with an audible clank of the metal. Then in an unexpected move, Len turned to Barry and held out the key to his husband.

Barry was stunned for a moment, but then he smiled quietly and nodded as he took the key from his husband, understanding what Len was doing. Len was trusting him with the key to this place, both secret and scared, and now shared by only them. It could also have been symbolic in that Len was giving him the key to his heart but Barry wasn't going to get all sugary and sappy like that, he was way too hungry. Barry brought the key up to his lips and pressed the kiss to it, his hazel eyes never leaving Len's steely blue, a silent promise passing between them before he tucked the key away inside one of the pockets of his jacket.

Smiling, Len and Barry made their way down the crude stone steps and into the clearing where Borealis and Speedy were playfully pawing at the grass. Len and Barry both whistled for their respective horses, the stallions neighing and snorting as they gave up play and dutifully trotted over the grass to greet their respective riders. After a few minutes spent showering the stallions with love, Barry and Len mounted up and trotted off back up the trail they had taken, because they really were hungry as hell at this point.

They made quick work of getting down the trail nodding to the guards who sat atop their horses a little ways down the trail, waiting at a distance as they had been ordered. Now that the King and Prince Consort were heading back to the Chateau, the guards followed closer behind by a few paces.

They reached the Chateau a few minutes later and handed off the reigns to Borealis and Speedy to the waiting attendants. Len then dismissed the guards and he and Barry thanked them for their service. Then Len and Barry were doing their best to remain dignified as they entered the Chateau and handed off their cloaks and swords to the awaiting servants. The made a quick trip upstairs to freshen up a bit before coming back down.

They waited until the head housekeeper stepped forward and informed them that the afternoon meal was ready and waiting for them in the dining room. They each could have kissed the man they were so happy and hungry, but instead they said their thanks and walked calmly side by side down the hallway that led to the dining room.

Once they were at the threshold, they took a moment to stare at the veritable personal feast for two that had been laid out on the end of the main table. There was an assortments of their favorite roast meats and buttery grilled vegetables, breads and fruits, all looking a sumptuous as always, the cooks being sure to always serve their royals only their very best. With a smirk, Len spoke without looking away from the food.

" Hey Kid, that roast beef's calling your name, go be an actual bear and bury you face in it." Barry chuckled before he turned to give Len a challenging look.

" You know, maybe I will." He said with a grin before he was shooting off with that incredible speed of his, his jaws open comically wide.

" Hey get back here!" Len said with a laugh as he ran after Barry, loving his husband's playfulness but also wanting to make sure that Barry didn't actually follow through and devour that awesome looking roast. He caught Barry around the waist and pulled him away just as Barry had bowed down to take a bite, the younger man laughing loudly and Len joining in as he pressed a kiss to Barry's cheek before smoothly handing him a plate. Len picked up a plate for himself and the couple went about piling their plates high.

They went about eating, sharing things off of each other's plates, and talking quietly, Len asking Barry about which crystals he liked the best besides the big, show-stopping white one, and Barry enthusiastically responding. As he watched Barry eat and laugh sitting across from him at the small table, Len felt like he was finally free of the lingering wisps of the dark cloud that had been hanging over him for years, and it was a really, really good feeling, this lightness. While he knew that their time up here in the Chateau was drawing to an end, just four more days until they would head down the mountain and get back to their lives as the rulers of Nevar. In all honesty, while the Chateau was nice and private, and he and Barry both got daily reports of the happening of the palace in their absence, they were really missing their home, and family. They were even missing their duties.

Len and Barry ate lunch and then afterwards lounged about in the library on one of the long, plush sofas, this time Len finding one of his favorite books of short stories and reading out loud from it while Barry lay with his head in Len's lap, listening intently with a smile as Len used his voice to act out the different characters, all the while feeling the key he still had in one of the breast pockets of his jacket.

And so the hours were spent, in each other's company, with a new level of closeness achieved after the events of today. After they had spent an ample amount of time in the library, they headed upstairs to share a warm bath together. They didn't take things all the way, just enjoying the simple intimacy of being together in the stone pool. Len smiled into Barry's damp brown hair as he held Barry to him with the younger man's back against his chest, while he himself rested against the side of the stone pool. The water smelled heavenly of the soaps and pure spearmint oil Barry and Len both loved. Barry sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against Len's shoulder. Len picked up one of the soft bath sponges that was hanging from the nearby railing and wet it.

" Hmm." Barry hummed softly in quiet enjoyment as Len running the sponge over his chest, lightly scrubbing and also spreading that lovely scent. They said not a word, they didn't need to.

About an hour later the water had grown cold and they had dragged themselves out, Len and Barry both loose and relaxed. As they set about getting dressed in simple clothing, Len looked up from his chest when Barry made an "aha" and saw his husband stand with a simple leather cord in his hand. He was about to ask Barry what he was up to when Barry held up the key to the crystal cave and threaded the cord through key's bow. Len found himself smiling as he watched Barry loop the cord around his neck and tie it at the back, the key hanging from it like a pendant.

Len couldn't help but also feel a small wave of possessiveness as he eye the key resting over his husband's bare chest. Barry looked up when he noticed Len staring and smiled warmly.

" Better than keeping it in my pocket, I'll be sure to put it somewhere safe when we get back home." Barry assured. Len nodded before he and Barry went back to getting dressed.

By the time they came back down to the first floor of the Chateau the sun had fully set and dinner would be in about ten minutes. Barry and Len simply lounged about the living room area, sharing a few kisses and the Len laughing loudly as Barry regaled him with another story of medical misfortune, this time about this poor young woman who had thought to straighten her unruly curls with the iron one used on clothing and had ended up burning her hair, thankfully though, it had been at the ends of her locks, so when the healer was summoned, he had been spared having to use burn treatments and prescribed a trip to the haircutters instead.

Then at long last the head servant came into the living room area and informed them that dinner was ready and waiting for them. Instead of the normal assortment like they had enjoyed for lunch, tonight was more low-key, the table was set, and the two plates held an elegant array of brazed and grilled meats and vegetable. It was a hearty dinner, but less a feast and more a romantic table for two. Barry was mildly surprised but not disappointed at the lack of the usual spread of many different items. It was refreshing to simply be able to sit down and enjoy what had been graciously prepared.

As he and Len took their seats at the small table by the window, one of the servants came forward and spoke, holding out an elegant bottle of wine.

" My King, the Harys wine you asked for this evening." Len nodded and smiled while Barry watched on, his curiosity evident as he realized that Len was the one who arranged for dinner to be this way for the evening.

The servant was all formality and grace as he filled Len's goblet and then Barry's before he set the bottle down on the table and stepped away with a boy. The other servants in the room all bowed and took their leave.

Once they found themselves alone, Barry caught on quick that this was meant to be a date night, and not the regular dinners they were used to. It called for a toast, so barry picked up his goblet and held it out to Len as he spoke.

" To a wonderful day gone by?" He asked, to which Len nodded and raised his own goblet.

" And to a wonderful night just beginning." He said as he lightly clinked his goblet with Barry's, a suggestion in his deep voice that was not lost on Barry as the young man did his best not to shiver in anticipation for what the night could indeed hold.

After that they went about finally digging into the sumptuous meal that had been prepared for them. There were sliced of roast duck with an almost crispy caramel glaze, braised beef that was so tender it feel apart with the barest poke of the fork, a grilled pheasant breast cut into strips with that light garlic butter sauce that Barry loved, and finally a trio of perfectly boiled quails eggs. It was all exquisite to look at, even better to taste.

" Oh man, this duck is amazing!" Barry said with a blessed out look on his face, Len nodding in agreement before he spoke.

" Try the beef with the wine, it is beyond this world." Len said as he held out forkful of said beef for Barry. Sure enough, Barry was nearly moaning at the combination.

" This wine, it's not like the one we usually have." Barry said as he sniffed at the rich, almost spicy aroma the wine gave off, Len nodding as he raised his own goblet.

" Yeah, they make it from the riper grapes and add in some earthy spices to give it a bit of a kick." Len explained before he took a deep swig and set the goblet down, mischief and something far more heated swirling behind his striking blue eyes as he smirked at Barry.

" It's also known for its... aphrodisiac qualities." He said, his voice going several octaves lower as he said the last two words. He watched as Barry's eyes widened before he was letting out this deep exhale, a light flush slowly spreading across his cheeks as Len's implications dawned on him.

Barry suddenly felt very hot under his sweater, heat pooling in his stomach that had nothing to do with the hot meal of the temperature in the room. A knowing smile slowly spread across his face as he chuckled.

" Leonard Snart are you trying to wine and dine me into that kind of mood?" He asked huskily, to which Len's smirk turned into a genuine smile as well.

" Well, is it working Bartholomew Allen?" He rumbled.

Barry stayed tellingly silent, his smile turning into a hungry look as he went back to eating, deliberately making a show of licking the sauce off of the piece of pheasant he had speared with his fork before devouring the bite. Len did his best not to just shove the table out of the way and get to Barry right then and there. Instead he reigned in his slowly boiling desire and focused on the show Barry was putting on for him. And if Len decided that it was only fair that Barry get a show in turn and started eating a few strips of duck with his fingers, being sure to lightly suck on his finger tips, well he was nothing if not a considerate husband.

By the time the last morsel of food was consumed and the last drop of wine was sipped, the charged air between the couple seemed to almost boil with the tension, the burning desire. With dinner done, Len and Barry rose from the table in silence, not uttering a single word as they walked out of the dining room. As they walked down the hallway into the living room area, Barry reached for Len's hands and intertwined their fingers, the both of them enjoying the heat radiating off of each other's skin as they made their way upstairs.

Once they had reached the door and stepped through, Len pulled the door shut behind him. The moment he turned, he let out a small gasp as he was lightly shoved against the door, a searing hot mouth sealing itself over his own. Within seconds Len was melted against Barry and kissing his husband back, pouring all of his pent up want into the kiss. As Barry groaned against Len's lips, he pulled Len away from the door, the couple doing an almost waltz as they made their way towards their bed.

They broke apart with a laugh as the backs of Barry's knees hit the foot of the bed, and their momentum going forward sent them lightly toppling onto the bed. Len let out a breathless huff as Barry mouthed at his jaw before he drew back, an took a moment to simply admire how gorgeous his husband looked in the amber firelight that illuminated the room for the fireplace that was going.

" Some days I still can't believe you're mine." Len said quietly. Barry grinned warmly as he wrapped his arms around Len's neck and pulled him in close so that their faces were mere inches from each other as he spoke.

" I wonder how I got so lucky sometimes too. But here we are, going on almost nine months of marriage, consummated and everything." Barry said with one of his signature grins.

They shared a moments of warmth, before the air grew heated again. Their mouths met in another fiery kiss while their hands sought out each other's bodies, Len's hands reaching under Barry's light sweater, taking a moment to touch the heated skin beneath it before slowly divesting his husband of it. Len groaned as Barry kissed at his neck while his fingers worked open the buttons of the simple dark navy tunic he was wearing. Both the sweater and the tunic ended up on the floor forgotten. They lay in the center of the bed, taking a moment to taste and caress the skin that was exposed. As Len gazed down at Barry, he felt a wave of possessiveness wash over him as he ran his fingers over the key that was resting over Barry's heart. In that moment as he gazed at his beautiful husband, Len decided that things were going to be a little bit different tonight.

Barry and Len went about undressing each other further till they were both gloriously nude and the air around them had grown searingly hot. They drew apart from a shared kiss with a gasp, and then Len forced himself away with a light groan. Barry watched him with understanding and excitement as Len padded into the bathroom. As he went to the special cabinet, Len found himself smiling in anticipation as he picked out the usual crystal bottle with the white lubricant, but instead of the usual vial of that sensuous clear oil, Len picked up a vial of oil that was situated at the back of the cabinet. Instead of being clear, the oil was a soft, golden amber color.

This was the really, really powerful stuff, and as Len eyes the vial with a glint in his eyes, he knew that it would be the right addition for what he had planned for tonight with Barry.

Stomping down on his own nervousness, Len quickly made his way back to Barry, who lay reclined with his back propped up against the headboard, looking down right sinful as he smiled hungrily at Len. Len found himself smirking back as he joined Barry on the bed, setting the two bottles down on the mattress before he leaned in between Barry's leg and gazed back just as hungrily at his husband. With a cheeky smirk, Len leaned in and promptly ran his tongue over the sensitive scar just under Barry's right pec, causing Barry to cry out and arch magnificently like there was a live current going through his whole body.

" O-Oh God Len!" Barry breathed, loving the feeling Len caused in him. Len went about kissing trails over his chest and stomach, across his scar, driving him almost mad from these acts alone.

But then Len abruptly pulled away and sat on his knees beside Barry. Barry sat up, confusion coming off of him in waves as he gazed at Len.

" Len, what is it? Why'd you stop?" Barry asked. To this Len smiled in reassurance as he leaned in and kissed Barry soundly. When they drew back, Len spoke, his voice a low, husky rumble.

" We're doing things a little different tonight Husband mine." He said before he gently pushed Barry down so that he was reclining once more.

" What do you mean different?" Barry asked, eying Len curiously. Len grinned as he picked up the crystal bottle of lubricant and pulled out the stopper. Barry watched on as Len went about liberally coating the fingers of his other hand, the very sight of it making Barry's mouth go dry, for many times before this was a precursor to Len thoroughly preparing him for their joining. But Len had said that tonight would be different, so Barry did his best to stay still and watch as Len spoke.

" Different as in this." Len rumbled before he reclined and spread his thighs, giving Barry the full view of his body as he began to use his lubricated fingers on his own body's opening.

Barry felt the breath rush out of his lungs as he watched Len do this, his strong and often stoic husband being so open and vulnerable in front of him. Barry couldn't hold back a groan as he watched Len. Len hissed against the initial pain, having not done this since Mick.

" Oh my God." Barry whispered, the way he was looking at Len, like he was the most exquisite thing he had ever seen, had Len almost losing all semblance of control right then and there, but Len held himself together and focused on the task at hand. With a shuddering breath, Len added a second finger and groaned softly before he spoke.

" Watch me Barry, this is how you do it." Barry swallowed and nodded, understanding that this wasn't just a wonderful show, but also a demonstration as Len slowly scissored his fingers. The minutes felt almost like hours, and then Len was letting out a loud, strangled cry and gasping, Barry gasping along with him as he watched Len arc up, no doubt having found his own sweet spot. With a groan, Len withdrew his fingers and let out a shaky breath as his entire body shuddered at the long dormant sensations washing over him.

But then he was gasping sharply as a strong, familiar hand was hooking him around the back of his neck and pulled him up onto his knee.

" Bar-mmph." Len began to say, but the rest came out as a garbled mumble as a hot mouth crashing over his own. Len let out a small, muffled chuckle as Barry proceeded to basically try to devour him. Len kissed Barry back just as fervently, wrapping arms tightly around

When the need for air became too much to ignore, they wrenched apart with a gasp. With a small groan and breathing hard, Barry held Len's flushed face in his hands and pressed his forehead to his husband's as he spoke.

" God Len... You looked so... I can't even... I get it, you want me to take you but husband, I've never done this before with a man, what if I hurt you?" Barry said softly.

Len smiled and ran his hand up and down Barry's graceful spine, making Barry moan softly as he spoke.

" You won't hurt me, I trust you Barry." Len said softly, but when he saw that Barry averted his gaze still looked a little unsure, Len smiled and cupped Barry's cheek, waiting for Barry look back up at him before continued.

" It's okay Barry, it's okay." He whispered before he took Barry's lips in a languid kiss, hoping to ease Barry back into a more relaxed state. It worked as Barry's whole body seemed to sigh against Len's as he kissed his husband back.

It was then that Len remembered the special oil. He drew away from Barry with a smile and reached for the glass vial. Barry, calmer now, but sill feeling nervous and excited, eyed the oil curiously.

" That's different to what we normally use. What's it do?" Barry asked. Len nodded and pushed open the stopper with his thumb before he spoke, his voice low, but no less commanding.

" Lay down on you back, you'll find out soon enough." Swallowing at the way Len's eyes looked almost completely black now, Barry obeyed and lay down.

He was inhaling sharply the next moment as Len promptly straddled him with his powerful thigh. Before Barry could say anything, Len tipped the vial and poured some of the amber oil onto Barry's chest, taking a moment to push the key that hung around Barry's neck out of the way before he proceeded to massage the oil over Barry's chest and stomach.

Barry groaned and writhed beneath those strong yet gentle hands, unlike the clear oil that felt cold when first applied to the skin, this oil was pleasantly warm. Len took particular pleasure in watching Barry as they shared this intimacy, always loving the myriad of looks that flitted across his husband's face along with the noises he could draw out of the younger man.

Barry's eyes, which had fluttered shut under Len's ministrations suddenly shot open, revealing hazel eyes turned almost all the way black, his pupils blown wide and filled with a fiery promise and deep want that Len had not seen before. With a low growl and his entire face growing serious, Barry suddenly pushed himself up into a sitting position, one of his arms wrapping tightly around Len's waisted while his other hand went to the vial Len was holding, seizing it.

With surprising strength, Barry pulled Len sideways, flipping them over so that Len now found himself on his back with Barry looming over him. Without saying a word, Barry poured some of the oil over Len's chest and stomach before he set the vial down on the nearby bedside drawer and got to work massaging Len's chest and stomach, his movements slow and sensuous. Now Len found himself writhing beneath Barry's hands. Once Barry had thoroughly worked the oil in, he then sought out the crystal vial with the white lubricant. Taking in a deep breath and holding the vial, Barry looked down at Len and spoke, his voice quiet and serious.

" Are you sure you want to do this Len?" He asked. Len took his own steadying breath before he nodded.

" Yes Barry, I am sure." He replied.

" Then lay back and watch me now." Barry said with a smirk that had all of Len's blood rushing south as his husband poured some of the lubricant onto himself. Len felt his heart pounding in both nervousness and anticipation. He wanted to feel Barry in this way, and he wanted him now. Len groaned as he watched Barry prepare himself, the younger man's eyes never leaving his as Barry rumbled and groaned. Then Barry was pouring the a liberal amount of the lubricant over the entrance to Len's body. The silence between the couple was charged as Barry finally knelt between Len's parted thighs and slowly moved forward. Barry took a moment to grab a pillow and place it under Len's hips even after his husband insisted that he didn't need it. Barry had silenced Len with a stern look before resuming.

A few moments later Len's strangled cry filled the air as Barry finally joined their bodies with a low groan of his own. They stayed that way, Barry allowing Len's body to adjust.

" B-Barry." Len whispered as he stared up at his husband, this moment more perfect than anything he could have ever imagined.

Barry leaned down and pressed his lips to Len's in a gentle kiss. When they drew away, Barry took in a deep breath and then spoke quietly.

" I'm gonna move now, just tell me if I am hurting you." He said before he drew his hips back slowly, nearly pulling out before he surged forward.

The feeling was so incredible that Len was robbed of his words, his mouth falling open and working with no words coming forth. Barry buried his face into the junction where Len's neck neck his shoulder and because biting and sucking on the skin hard, sure to leave bruises as he set a slow, almost torturous pace.

Len's hands went to Barry's lithe back, his palms splaying over the smooth expanse and reveling in the feel of the taught and coiling muscles.

A few long minutes later Barry was just beginning to feel the pressure building within him as he made love to Len, when his skin started to tingle over his chest.

" L-Len, everything's starting to tingle... what?" Barry began to ask, only to gasp as the intensity of it began to rapidly grow and expand over him. Beneath him Len was breathing hard and groaning as he too felt the sensation. With a breathless laugh Len spoke.

" The oil Barry, t-that amber colored oil is different... M-More intense. That other oil's meant to feel like fire but this one... this one's supposed to feel like- GAH!" Len broke off into a loud cry before he could finish his sentence, his entire body coming alive as it felt like a million little sparks were crackling all over his skin. Above him Barry cried out as well, his spine arcing magnificently while he pressed his forehead to Len's collarbone and breathed through the unexpected, yet highly intoxicating sensation.

" Like lightening... This feels like lightening." Barry said with a breathless little laugh as he pushed himself up and grinned down at Len. Len chuckled and nodded before he leaned up and kissed Barry. Barry returned the kiss and then snapped his hips forward, making Len gasp sharply as Barry finally hit that special spot.

The minutes rolled by, the fire in the fireplace crackling brightly while Barry continued his slow pace and elicited new sounds from his husband. As the oil enhanced their pleasure and the pressure of release began to build between them, Barry began to speed up, Len almost incoherent as his husband rammed that sweet spot within him over and over again.

With a low growl, Barry reached up and hooked a hand around the back of one of Len's knees and pushed it up, draping his husband's leg over his shoulder before he thrust in, causing Len to full on scream in renewed rapture. With his chest heaving Len looked up at Barry and smiled knowingly as he spoke with a groan.

" You've been reading the red book, haven't you?" He asked breathlessly.

" I may have... _oh_... memorized a few things." Barry replied through gritted teeth before he leaned, mere centimeters separating him from Len as he spoke, his voice quiet and dangerous.

" Now tell me who's husband are you." He said. Len's eyes almost rolled up into the back of his head at the possessiveness he could literally feel just in Barry's voice alone.

Without any guilt or hesitation, Len spoke.

" Yours... I am your husband... B-Barry." Len breathed, crying out at a particularly hard thrust from his husband, one of his hand blindly reaching out and finding the key that hung from barry's neck, using it to ground himself a little amidst the sensory overload.

" You are mine Leonard Lewis Richard Snart... Do you hear me? You are mine from now until existence itself ends." Barry growled before he started moving at a brutal pace, driving Len wild beneath him.

" Yes! I am yours... Bar... Gasp!... Bartholomew H-Henry Allen. I am yours... I am y-yours... I... Oh!... Oh God!... BARRY!" Len screamed as Barry leaned in and sunk his teeth into his neck and sent him toppling over the edge into sheer bliss.

" L-LEN!" Barry screamed as he felt Len's enter body arc beneath him and tense around him like a vice, proving to be the thing to shatter his own control as with a final thrust Barry too tumbled into ecstasy, his vision actually going white from the sheer force of it.

After several long moments of wave after wave of intense pleasure crashing over them both, Barry and Len's bodies both lost tension as they collapsed into a boneless heap. As he gulped in air to catch his breath, Barry used his waning strength to gently disjoin his body from Len's. Then with a light groan he pushed himself so that he could collapse against Len's side. For several long minutes he was too out of it to notice, but as he caught his breath, Barry became aware of just how quiet Len was being. Normally Barry would hear harsh breathing and groaning, sometimes even a few whispered out curse words, but right now there was only silence.

Felling concerned, Barry pushing himself up onto an elbow so that he could get a better look at Len. Len was laying there on his back unmoving, his breath deep and even and with his eyes close, his dark lashes standing out against his lightly flushed face. Barry frowned, wondering how Len could drift off to sleep so fast, but in an instant his healer's instincts were kicking in as he sat up and loomed over his husband.

" Len?" Barry called, his voice slightly wrecked as he reached down and placed his hand over the center of his husband's chest. When Len did not so much as twitch, Barry lightly shook Len and called out to him again.

Barry was about to panic because if Len had been asleep all the shaking and calling his name would have surely woken him up, but then it hit him like a tone of bricks.

Len was unconscious, and it wasn't because of some infinity or mishap, Barry's husband had passed out because the pleasure Barry had caused him had been enough to render him senseless.

" Holy..." Barry whispered before a truly self-satisfied grin slowly spread across his face.

Barry took a few moments to admire his work, Len looking absolutely glorious and gorgeous despite his current state, before Barry got up and hurried into the bathroom to first clean himself up and then get a fresh towel for Len, and to see if the medicine cabinet had any smelling salts he could use.

 _About twenty minutes later..._

" Oh my God are you serious?" Len groaned as he dramatically threw an arm over his eyes where he lay still gloriously nude but now clean and conscious once more.

Barry just giggled as he lay half on top, half beside Len, pulling the sheets and comforter up to cover them from the waist down, feeling sleepy and warm, and also amused at his husband's mortification.

Barry had taken advantage of Len's unconsciousness to clean him of the evidence of their lovemaking, the cold towel always unpleasant. After that Barry had taken his sweet time in actually using the smelling salts he had found in the bathroom, taking a few more minutes to admire his handiwork before he waved the salts under Len's nose and brought his husband back to consciousness.

Len had been a little out of it but once the disorientation had faded, Barry had been downright gleeful as he explained just why the smelling salts had been necessary.

" Damn Kid, you are never going to let me live this down are you?" Len asked with mock despair as Barry just laughed and shook his head, humming happily when Len wrapped his arms around him and held him close.

" Not a chance." Barry said with a low, rumbling chuckle. Len found himself chuckling and not minding this fact at all as he smiled into those sleepy hazel green eyes.

Barry shifted and leaned up, pressing his lips to Len's in a gentle kiss, Len melting beneath him. When they drew away, they just stared at each other for words were not necessary what had happened today between them.

They were now and forever, truly each others.

 _Four days later..._

It was a bright early morning over the mountains. Within their bedroom in the Chateau, Barry let out a muffled laugh as Len kissed his lips from behind, loving his husband's playfulness.

Four days went by in the blink of an eye, and now here Barry and Len were getting dressed and ready to leave the mountain Chateau. They had spent these fours days rarely leaving each others side, now that they had declared their devotion to each other. There was a lightness about Len now that Barry absolutely loved, like the invisible burden that had still been weighing Len down had well and truly been lifted through supernatural intervention in the form of a dream.

Len himself felt like he was on top of the world and could take on anything, he had himself, and more importantly he had Barry by his side. They were now standing in their mountain bedroom putting on their heavy travel jackets of course the progress was a bit slow seeing as to how they could barely keep their hands off of each other. But eventually they were dressed and ready, the chests in which they had kept their clothes having been sent down the mountain ahead of them.

" We'll have to come back here again in summer, then I can show you what the cave looks like then." Len said, smiling against Barry's shoulders.

" That sounds like a plan my husband." Barry agreed with a bright smile.

With tat the royal couple gave each other a final kiss in their bedroom before they walked out of it, Len closing the door behind them. They made their way down the stairs for the final time and took a look around the living room area where they had shared so many quiet and peaceful moments together. As they walked, Len noticed that Barry had something tucked under his arm, so when he sent Barry a questioning look, Barry simply grinned like the cat that caught the canary and showed Len what he was holding.

A certain special red leather bound book.

Len was stunned for a second before he was grinning back at Barry like a loon, a chuckle escaping him as he watched Barry discreetly tuck the book into his jacket.

With a last look around the Len and Barry greeted the servants who awaited them with their cloaks and sword, the pair donning the attire before they took their leave of the Chateau servants and headed outside into the brisk, lightly snow-filled air. It had grown colder up here, signaling that true winter was coming at that it was time to head back home.

Len and Barry walked down the stone steps side by side, nodding and saying their goodbyes to the attendants that had Borealis and Speedy saddles and waiting for them. They mounted up and took their leave of the mountain Chateau, the six royal guards following them dutifully as Leonard and Barry headed down the mountain path, the Nevarain palace standing in the distance waiting for them.

It was time for the King of Nevar and his Prince to return home to the winter kingdom.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Chapter 13

" Man this stuff takes forever to grind." Cisco said flatly in mild exasperation as he moved the grinder back and forth over the dried Joba roots he was currently in the process of turning into powered.

" Yeah, even with all the pressure we're putting on it, it's slow going." Barry agreed with a small sigh where he stood across from Cisco at another grinding station, slowly grinding away at his own batch of Joba roots. It was a bit comical seeing the Prince Consort of Nevar, the picture of quiet regality in a dark green tudor jacket with silver embellishments along the sleeves, black leather trousers and knee length brown boots, and the smaller version of his wedding chain draped around his shoulders, grinding away at his station, but that was indeed his current task.

It was late morning over Nevar, and in the Healing Wing of the palace, Nevar's Prince Consort and his Page were about an hour into their usual morning duties as healer's in trainer under patient tutelage of Lord Harrison Wells, Chief Healer of Nevar.

As he moved the grinder back and forth over the root, slowly but surely breaking it down, Barry found a smile curling up the corners of his lips. Despite the tedious work he was doing Barry couldn't be happier.

It had been almost a month since he and Len returned from their retreat in the mountains, and it had surprised both King and Prince Consort when they saw just how much they had truly been missed.

When they had arrived at the gates of the Kingdom, Mark Mardon was there dutifully waiting to escort them to the palace with a squadron of mounted guards. It had surprised Barry for sure, but Leonard even more so because he had not ordered such a greeting. When asked, Mardon had explained that no orders had been necessary, he and his men had wanted to greet their returning rulers with a little pomp and circumstance, so they had taken it upon themselves to get their horses ready and had come to escort their King and Prince Consort safely home.

Barry and Len had both been deeply touched, but had kept their composure as Len had nodded to his general and ordered that they proceed, the six guards who had accompanied Len and Barry to the mountains wordlessly and fluidly joining with the ranks of the surprise escort.

As Len and Barry had rode into the main street of Nevar that led straight up to the palace, they had been buffeted by their people, all bundled up against the chilly air, but exuding nothing but warmth as they had cheered and clapped for the safe return of their rulers. Barry and Len had smiled and waved at the crowds, accepting a few gifts here and their from the children who were bold enough to run up to them.

They thought that they would simply ride in with their small escort of six guards and head home to the palace, instead Barry and Len had found themselves at the center of a joyous procession. It had not been as formal, nor as grand as a royal proceeding could be, but for Barry and Len it had meant the world. Barry himself would admit that he had felt so many powerful emotions rise up inside him, so much so that he had had to discreetly wipe something from his eye before he went back to waving and smiling at his subject. He also knew that Len had been deeply touched by the gesture from his subjects but kept it all behind his warm smile.

When they had finally reached the grounds of the palace, Len and Barry had barely dismounted from Borealis and Speedy respectively before a certain princess had come flying down steps, looking totally ecstatic. Lisa had greeted them both with neck-bone bending hugs, almost bouncing with joy and excitement at having her brother and brother-in-law finally home.

After Lisa, Cisco, Ronnie, Caitlyn, and Lord Wells had all stepped forward to greet the returning royals themselves. There was a moment of formality where Cisco, Ronnie, Caitlyn, and Harrison all bowed or in Caitlin's case curtsied to their King and Prince Consort before the many greetings had commenced Cisco and Barry had shared a hug, while Len and Ronnie had clasped arms. Len had then turned to Caitlyn and kissed her on both cheeks in greeting. Barry had done the same while Len had turned to greet Lord Wells, shaking hands with his head healer and chief advisor. Barry and Wells had shared a warm greeting, Barry almost immediately asking about the happenings in the Healing Wing and the rest of the palace. Wells had shared a warm look with Len before he had shaken his head and told Barry with mock sternness that such talk would have to wait until they were inside and Barry and Len had freshened up. Barry had made a show of exaggerated disappointment, causing laughter all around before Len had stepped in, kissed his husband soundly in front of everyone without any self-consciousness, causing many to grin widely at the sight, and then pulled a laughing Barry towards the palace, with their family following close behind.

Barry quickly shook himself out of his little trip down memory lane and focused back on the task at hand, the conquering of the stubborn-ass Joba root with Cisco fighting beside him as it were.

 _Meanwhile, in the council chambers of the palace..._

King Leonard Snart sat in his dressed regally in a deep brown Tudor jacket with matching over jacket lined with light, tawny fur along the hem, a chain of gold disks with bright red rubies inlaid within them, meeting at the center in a gold emblem. The most telling thing was that instead of the emblem being the Nevairan snowflake, it was the combined emblem just like Barrys, a delicate looking Nevarian snowflake with a lightening bolt going through it's center.

It was small and subtle in nature, just jewelry, but monumental as to what its implications were.

Ever since they had returned from their mountain retreat, Len had become more relaxed and open in his affections towards Barry. Len didn't make out with Barry in the hallway or wax poetic endlessly to every ear that was available, but he did start partaking in small public displays of affection, like a chaste kiss in front of the whole advisory council here, wrapping an arm around Barry as they walked to the main hall there. Barry himself was pleased to return the gestures and make a few of his own, including resuming his penchant for subtly pinching the royal bum. If there was one thing that Len did pile on, it was his praise for Barry reaching his third level of certification about a week after they had returned from the mountain.

Leonard was proud of his husband, and he wasn't ashamed to let everyone know it.

Now though, he was bored up to his eyeballs as he listened to some of the proposals from the nobility that had come in. Today the list seemed to go on and on. There were the petty skirmishes between neighbors, the disputes as to inheritance, one noble family was even asking for more time on a debt that was owed, the land disputes and the land purchasing proposals, and complaint, many, many complaints. Most Len left to his advisors to settle, putting his stamp of approval on it once he had had a quick glance through the document. It was Harrison who was reading through the docket though, which made things a little pit bearable, his voice pleasant and he didn't partake in long winded explanations.

" My King, the next item comes from Lord Samuel Scudder." Harrison read out from the list. Len's interest was piqued, for Sam Scudder was one of the nobles who hardly ever demanded nor complained about anything really, his one oddity was his love for mirrors, the grand collection he was amassing at his estate a testament to his love, so much so that he was affectionately called the " Master of Mirrors" by Court. But his collecting habit aside, Scudder was a kind and benevolent lord who was well liked. At Len's nod, Harrison read out Lord Scudder's call on the king.

" My King, the Lord Scudder writes to inform us of a a strange happening on some of his farm lands. For the past two months Lord Scudder's farm hands have discovered two or three heads of cattle missing every morning after the usual head count. At first they chalked it up to perhaps some of the elderly animals dying off, but now the total count of missing animals numbers at a dozen. While the Scudder is in no way endangered financially, he now worries that there may be something attacking his animals, be it wolf, bear, even mountain lion. Lord Scudder has received these reports and has grown deeply concerned at this point now that the number of missing cows has risen and humbly requests that your majesty send some of your best trackers to investigate the matter."

All eyes turned to Len as he mulled over Harrison's words. This was indeed a troubling report. Sitting up straighter in his chair, Len spoke formally.

" Well we can't have wolves or what have you terrorizing our farm lands. So I shall grant Lord Scudder's request. Have Mardon organize a small tracking party and be sure that Lincoln is among the hunting pack. I want a full report of whatever is found, hopefully the problem will be found and rooted out with all swiftness."

" As you command My King, I shall have General Mardon informed by the end of this meeting." He said with a small bow. Then at Len's signal with his hand, Harrison nodded and proceeded to the next matter on the list. When he saw what it was and who had sent it in, Harrison had to resist the very strong urge to roll his eyes. With a small sigh, Harrison read the next item out for his king and his fellow advisors to here.

" The next item on the list comes from Lord James Jesse-" No sooner had Harrison mentioned the very name, there was a definite shift in the air of the Advisory chamber, one of quiet but absolute discontent.

Len allowed a cold glower to come over his face for a moment, eying the various looks of annoyance that marred the faces of several of his advisors before he forced himself to take a deep breath and set his face in a more neutral expression as he resisted the urge to just get up and leave, and instead sat still in his chair and listened to the request from one of the two old geezer's who's cruel and crass gossip had caused him to make one of the biggest mistakes of his entire life and nearly wrecked his marriage to Barry.

With a look of understanding, Harrison took a breath himself before he went about continuing in reading out the many, many requests and complaints the good Lord Jesse had sent for review on this day.

Len allowed himself a small sigh and sat back, he had that sinking feeling this was going to take a while and a subtle look around at his advisors told him they shared the sentiment.

 _A couple of hours later..._

Barry let out a small groan as he stretched his arms, his muscles burning slightly after having finally finishes grinding the Joba roots and bottling the powder up with Cisco. Now it was finally time for lunch and both Prince Consort and Page were eager to get to the private dining hall where they normally had the afternoon meal. As he stretched his own aching arms Cisco playfully flexed them as he spoke.

" Look at the bright side Barry, all that grindings sure to back on the muscles." He said with a grin as he and Barry headed out of the Healing Wing. Barry snorted at his best friend's antics.

" Yeah, it'll only take you... what?... a hundred years to build up to Mark's level?" He teased. Cisco sent Barry a dirty look before he found himself smiling as he spoke.

" I make a comment one morning while you, his majesty the king, and Mardon were all training, about how muscular our good general's arms are and you're still nailing me with it, talk about beating a dead horse." Barry just laughed as he and Cisco made it out into the hall.

" Alright alright, I'll lay off, but still, you'd have better luck with sword training. Weight lifting's part of it after all. Plus it's always good to know how to defend yourself." Barry commented.

" Yeah, so you have said. But you know me, I am not one for violence." Cisco said as they walked. Barry nodded before a mischievous little smile turned up the corners of his lips.

" True, there is that and I respect it, but could it also be that you don't want to look bad, like most novices do, in front of a certain sister-in-law of mine?" He asked knowingly.

Cisco's eyes grew comically wide as he sputtered nervously.

" Hey, keep your voice down!" Cisco hissed as his eyes darted around the place, half-expecing a certain King and older brother to materialize out of no where to kill him.

Barry just chuckled and shook his head before he grew serious.

" You guys really should just come out and tell Len that you've been seeing each other for the last three months, that you want to make things official and court Lisa officially."

Cisco hung his head a little.

" He'll kill me Barry. She's his baby sister and I still can't believe she wants to be with me like this, that it wasn't just some harmless flirting." Cisco said, a small smile coming to his lips despite himself at the very thought of the Princess of Nevar.

Barry found himself smiling too, because it was quite clear that his best friend of in love, and deeply so with Lisa. They had been very very careful and discreet in their courtship, having people think it was all just Lisa being her flirtatious self and Cisco merely indulging the Princess. It was only though sheer luck that Barry had stumbled upon them in the apothecary storage room looking for some Cammomile powder to replenish the stock in the main ward just three days ago. They had been tucked away behind some shelves laden with many jars and boxes, holding each other close and talking quietly. It had been Barry's quick reflexes and wherewithal that had stopped him from dropping the glass jars he had been holding, because he had been shocked as hell. He hid and observed as Lisa, who was slightly taller than Cisco had seized his best friend in a fiery kiss that actually had Barry blushing. Deciding to make his presence known, Barry had stepped forward and cleared his throat right when things were getting a bit too heated between them for his liking.

They had been startled and stopped kissing, but as Barry observed, had tellingly not let go of each other as they had stared at Barry with wide, panic-stricken eyes. Barry had demanded an explanation of just what the hell was going on and had been astonished when his best friend and sister-in-law confessed that they had been secretly seeing each other for three whole months. While they had remained chaste and not done anything besides kissing, they had shared many a secret rendezvous to enjoy meals together and just be in each others company. It didn't take much for Barry to realize that they were indeed serious about each other.

Before he could get a word in edge-wise, Lisa had sworn him to complete secrecy despite his protests. He didn't want to keep this a secret, especially not from Len, but he also wanted to respect Lisa and Cisco as adults, this was their relationship, their lives after all. If they wanted to keep it private, then Barry agreed to respect their wishes. He did take them both aside some hours later, after they had shared a normal enough lunch with Len, they had all gone to the library and found a private corner. Barry had grilled them both about how their romance had all began and what their plans were. By the end of it, Barry agreed to support them, and Cisco and Lisa had agreed that since the annual Winter Solstice would be happening in a couple of weeks, they would reveal their intent to marry to Len either that night, or the morning after.

As for now, Barry shook his head and reached out to squeeze Cisco's shoulder as he spoke.

" Cisco, Len's my husband and I hate that I'll be keeping something this huge from him, but you and Lisa have to come out and say it soon, I just know in my gut that the longer you guys keep this hidden the bigger the fallout is going to be." He said gravely.

" I know my Prince, I know. But we decided that the Winter Solstice would be a good time, it's happening soon and everyone will be in a good mood, his Majesty will be in good spirits most of all, I just hope he doesn't call for my head or order me banished." Cisco said, genuine fear in his tone and eyes. Barry lightly punched Cisco in the shoulder as he spoke.

" Don't be so negative, you gotta think positive man. It's not like you're a complete pauper, you are a Marquis back home." Cisco shrugged.

" Just a Page here." He sighed. Barry just shook his head.

" You are way more respected here than you realize." Barry said sincerely. Cisco found himself smiling back at his best friend and Prince before they quickly hurried the rest of the way towards the private dining room, where Barry's Len and secretly still, Cisco's Lisa were surely waiting.

 _A few minutes later..._

Len listened with interest as Lisa regaled him about some of the newest apprentices that had joined her gold and jewelry fashioning guild, particularly praising a feisty and talented young lady by the name of Lawshawn Baez, or Shawna as she liked to be called. The royal siblings were sitting at the long table in the private dining hall, taking a moment to simply know how each other's day was going and waiting for Barry and Cisco to get there from the Healing Wing so they could all share lunch like they usually did. Only difference was that Ronnie was absent today because he and Caitlyn had decided to go have lunch with her parents in the city today, Len and Lisa more than happy to oblige their attendants in doing so. Len found himself chuckling as Lisa went on to tell him about some of the less competent recruits, how one in particular had done a great job of getting too close to one of the kilns and nearly singed off his eyebrows. Thankfully there had been no injuries, just a terribly frightened new apprentice getting reamed out by Lisa and her master designer. Len and Lisa both chuckled at the misadventures of her gold worker's guild.

They both looked up when the doors to the private dining hall were opened. Len was on his feet in an instant, a brilliant smile spreading across his face as he caught sight of his husband. Barry found himself grinning back as he quickened his pace a little to meet Len halfway, just as happy and eager to see his husband of now nine months. They met in a warm embrace, Cisco and Lisa smiling at the pair and sharing a secret smile for themselves. After the slow and honestly annoying morning, Len allowed himself a few moments to revel in the feel of finally having Barry in his arms again, inhaling that lightening like scent that always served to revitalize him and also set him at ease. Barry was the first to draw back, but only so that he could press his lips to Len's in a lingering yet chaste peck, his husband returning it.

Lisa could not help but feel joy at the sight, Len and Barry so openly affectionate with each other in her presence. Once Len and Barry had thoroughly greeted each other, Lisa had stepped forward and shared sweet kisses on the cheek with Barry, while Len and Cisco were a little more formal in greeting each other, although they did shake hands. When Barry and Lisa had drawn away, Lisa made her way over to Cisco, who dutifully bowed and kissed her hand.

" Good seeing you Cisco." Lisa said with a bright glint in her blue eyes.

" Likewise your highness." Cisco said with a smile.

Barry subtly sent them a warning look so that they cut it out before Len grew suspicious. Lisa and Cisco quickly looked away from each other, and they all took their seats, Len gesturing for the servants to start bringing out the food.

The servants worked in perfect unison as they brought out the dishes that had been prepared, sumptuous roasts, breads, various cheese and smoked meats, a few bowls of freshly cut and honeyed fruits, and small tray of various mini tarts and pastries.

The royals all gave their thanks to their servers before they went about finally enjoying the delicious looking spread. With their plates piled high, Barry's naturally piled the highest, they fell into easy conversation, Lisa regaling Barry and Cisco of the happenings of her guild. As they laughed at the minor mishaps, Barry then turned his attention to Len.

" Hey Len, how was the morning meeting? still disappointed I couldn't sit in with you today." Len just shook his head at that.

" Don't worry about it Kid, it was the usual complaints and requests. But there were a couple of things that stuck out." Len replied. Barry and Cisco both perked up with interest.

" Do tell dear husband." Barry said with a smile.

Len went on to explain the strange misfortunes that had beset Lord Sam Scudder's farm lands, and his orders to have Mardon send out some of his best trackers to see if they could find whatever was killing the livestock. Then with a sigh he also brought up the other significant, the one that had almost taken up a full hour to get through.

Barry's face instantly took on a sour expression at the mere mention of Lord James Jesse, and continued to sour when Len went into detail about how the old fart had sent his own mini list of petty and frivolous complaints about his neighbors, and also requesting to purchase some barren lands situated along the seashore to the east of Nevar.

" Did you grant his requests my king?" Cisco asked curiously. Len snorted and smiled a little before he replied.

" Tempting as it was to just tell the good Lord Jesse to shove it and stop constantly complaining and taking up time that could be spent elsewhere in things that actually matter, I ordered that minor investigations be carried out regarding his complaints against his neighbors, but I did stave off on just granting him purchase of the land. It seemed odd to me that he'd be so interested in this parcel enough that this is his third time requesting it, so I decided that a land survey was in order, it should take the surveyors a couple of weeks at least considering the size of the parcel. If Lord Jesse really wants it, he'll just have to be a bit patient." Len said with a shrug.

The smug glint in his striking blue eyes wasn't lost on any of them, but Barry, Lisa, and even Cisco could not find it in themselves to feel much sympathy towards Lord James Jesse, besides being a gossip, the man was just an overall abrasive and often times inappropriate prick, the many times during simple social gatherings where they had all either witnessed or been on the receiving end of Jesse's comments were a testament to that.

Barry smiled in approval of Len's actions towards one of the men who had nearly derailed their marriage, albeit unknowingly. Jesse just really wasn't a nice man, even at his age. Feeling that his husband deserved a reward for a job well-done, Barry picked up a mini raspberry tart from the tray and held it out to Len. Len just smiled as he leaned forward as took the offering into his mouth, eying Barry with a silent promise in his eyes as he enjoyed the tart.

Lisa and Cisco both shared a look while Barry and Len were distracted, but when the moment was over they all went back to enjoying lunch and more importantly each other's company.

Once lunch was done, everyone had to part ways again. Lisa took her leave first to head back to the guild, she hugged her brothers and let Cisco kiss her hand again before she glided away, sending Cisco a subtly wink as she passed him before disappearing into the hallway.

" Hey Cisco, why don't you head back to the Healing Wing, I'll be there in a few." Barry said with a grin as Len wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

Cisco grinned, both at the not so subtle hint that Barry wanted a little alone time with his husband, and also giving him the perfect cover to go and meet Lisa. He bowed to the King and Prince Consort before he calmly walked out of the private dining hall. Once Cisco was gone, Barry let out a laugh as he was yanked forward into a searing kiss. He shivered and sighed against Len as he wrapped his arms around his husband and kissed him back fervently. When they drew apart several long moments later, they kept their foreheads pressed together as Len glanced at the doors through which his sister and Cisco had left through. With a mischievous little smile curling up the corners of his mouth, Len decided to let a certain cat out of the bag.

" Hey Barry, do you think Cisco broke into a run once he was out of sight to go meet up with Lisa?" He asked, barely fighting back the urge to grin fully as Barry reeled back with a startled little gasp and stared wide-eyed and open mouthed at his husband, who apparently was not as oblivious to his sister's love affair with his husband's Page as they had all thought.

" Y-You know about what's going on with them?" Len nodded.

" Yup, I've known for a couple of weeks now, since a little after we got back from our trip up to the Chateau. I was just walking through the halls with Ronnie to come and see you in the library when me and him saw Lisa just as she disappeared around a corner. I told Ronnie to wait for me while I went to go find her and ask her if she wanted to join us. I turned the same corner at that's when I caught them in a secluded corner, by the painting of me and Lisa's great, great Grandmother. They were kissing and hugging. I let them be and came to find you instead. " He explained while Barry let out a breathless little laugh of disbelief.

Len chuckled as he pulled Barry back to him, pressing a kiss to his temple before he spoke.

" Well, now that the cat's out of the bag between us, when'd you find out about them?" Len asked, Barry smiled against his shoulder as he spoke.

" I caught them a couple of days ago in the apothecary storage room. I was just looking for something and they were there between some shelves, I made my presence know when they were about to go from sweet kissing to tonsil hockey." Barry explained with a laugh while Len groaned in mild mortification.

Soon they were both chuckling and holding each other close as Barry pressed a chaste kiss to Len's lips and spoke.

" Hey Len, how'd you know that I knew about Lisa and Cisco?" He asked curiously. Len's smile turned into one of his signature smug smirks.

" Well none of you were being as subtle as you thought you were. The lovey dovey eyes when they think no one's looking is bad enough ever since I finally found out what their relationship is really like, but then you started acting funny, getting all nervous these last couple of days whenever the four of us were in the same room. Today I caught you sending them a warning look and I figured out you were in on it now too."

Barry shook his head, marveling at just how amazingly observant his husband was, but not at all that surprised, Len was a seasoned King after all, all those years on the throne and having to deal with his subjects and foreign dignitaries, of course he'd be an expert in knowing how to read people through just their body language alone.

Barry sighed and shook his head.

" Should have known, nothing gets past you." He said in mock exasperation, putting up no resistance when a smug looking Len pulled him in for a kiss.

When they drew back, Barry sighed.

" I love you." He said quietly. Len found his smirk turning back into a genuine smile as he spoke.

" And I you." He replied. There was a beat of comfortable silence between them before Barry deemed it wise to clue Len in now that his husband had revealed that he did indeed know about Lisa and Cisco.

" After I caught them, I told them they should come out at tell you right away and I wanted to tell you right away but Lisa swore me to secrecy." Barry began, Len growing serious and nodding in acceptance. Len would admit that he had been a little mad that Barry hadn't told him straight away, but Barry was respecting Lisa's wishes so he couldn't fault his husband too much as he listened on as Barry continued.

" I talked with them, told them that it would be better is they came out and revealed everything to you sooner rather than later. They decided that they would tell you of their intent to marry either on the night of the Winter Solstice Ball that's coming up, or the day after." Barry explained.

Len nodded and mulled over his husband's words before he let out a small huff, his serious expression melting into a small, thoughtful smile.

" They're really serious aren't they?" Barry smiled back as he nodded.

" Yeah, seems that way." Then Barry grinned.

" I am just surprised you didn't call for Cisco's head or banish him back to Central the second you found out. He's worried about that you know." Barry smiled as he watched a steely glint fill Len's striking eyes.

" Oh I won't call for anything that drastic, from what I have observed, he really does love my sister, but I think I'll have some fun making him sweat a little when they do finally come and tell me. A pity that I gotta wait a couple weeks for the Winter Solstice Ball though." Len said with a mock grumble.

Barry's laughter echoed through the private dining hall, Len's deeper voice soon joining in. A few minutes later, and after several more kisses were shared, Len and Barry parted ways again, Len heading to his study to look over some of the new progress reports that had come in regarding some new buildings that were going up by the Western wall of the kingdom, and Barry heading back to the Healing Wing to go and rejoin Cisco in helping Harrison make fresh batches of medicine.

But as he walked down the hall towards the Healing Wing, Barry felt a sudden clenching of his heart as deep longing washed over him. While he was glad beyond belief that he no longer had to keep things a secret from Len, and that his husband was not in any way displeased by the fact that Lisa and Cisco were seeing each other, a wave of pain and sadness washed over Barry as he realized that an important date was coming up for him, and that it would be his first one here in Nevar.

Feeling all good cheer rapidly fleeing him, Barry lifted his right hand so that he could gaze at it, more specifically the gold ring with the hexagon-cut ruby that adorned his right pinky, feeling his eyes burn a little.

His mother's engagement ring that he always wore in her honor. As he stared at his mother's ring, Barry's mind also turned to his father's great broadsword where it was safely tucked away inside its box within his changing suite, causing another spike of painful longing to go through the young man's heart.

In an instant Barry felt something inside him crack and spread a dark ache through his very soul, but he quickly forced this awful feeling into the back of his mind, he needed to get back to work at the Healing Wing.

Once there, Cisco and Harrison were a welcome distraction as they and a few other Healer's apprentices went to work making the various medicines. But even as he laughed and worked along side Cisco and listened intently to Harrison's, that feeling of despair did not abate, it was simply held at bay.

The rest of the day passed by hour by hour, Len and Barry meeting up at the royal apartments where they enjoyed a soothing hot bath together and then enjoying a quite dinner at the table by the window in the living room area with Cisco and Ronnie attending them.

It was while they were getting ready for bed that Len, ever observant, notice a slight droop in Barry's shoulders, and the slight shadow over his husband's normally bright features. He didn't think much of it, chalking it up to Barry simply being exhausted after their long day, he himself just wanted to fall onto their soft bed and pass out into oblivion.

They didn't say a word as Barry and Len tiredly made their way to bed, climbing under the covers and settling in. Len let out a sigh, the quickly turned into a soft chuckle as Barry pulled him in close and buried his face into his shoulder. Not thinking anything was out of the ordinary, Len simply wrapped his arms around Barry and was soon drifting off into peaceful sleep surrounded in warmth. He didn't notice that the same could not be said for Barry, sleep did not come for him as he lay snug and warm against Len. While having Len their helped, it did not chase away the dull ache that had settled over Barry's heart. With a small breath, Barry shut his eyes against the burning that had settled over his eyes, keeping the tear at bay as he drifted off into a fitful sleep, his mind plaguing him with bygone memories of the most horrifying night of his life.

Not even Len simply being there laying beside him could chase away the cloying talons of the past as they sunk into Barry psyche and soul, robbing him of peace.

 _Three days later..._

Harrison Wells had always been one to pay attention to details, especially since he was both Chief Healer and Head Advisor of Advisory council, and such occupations called for one to always be paying attention, be if regarding patients or foreign dignitaries playing hardball. These skills of observation were being exercised now as he observed a certain Prince Consort quietly sitting at a table carefully sorting tablets into glass bottles with Cisco sitting across from him working on gluing labels to the glass bottles. As he watched Barry work, Harrison could tell that something was not alright with the young Prince. If he really thought about it, something had been off with Barry for the past three days.

Barry was quieter, his normally brilliant smile now appearing somewhat forced. He didn't ask nearly as many questions as he normally did regarding what the various properties they worked with did, hell, even his wardrobe had darkened from the bright colors he normally wore into more muted and subdued colors. Not even Cisco, who could make Barry tear up from laughing so much, couldn't seem to cut through the quiet funk that had settled over the Prince Consort of Nevar.

To say that Harrison was concerned would be an understatement, but the one who was even more concerned was Leonard Snart. He had been the one to quietly ask after the morning meeting had concluded to keep a subtle eye on Barry, voicing his concerns that his husband's mood had changed drastically. Now as he watched Barry work almost listlessly, Harrison could not help but agree that his King was right to be concerned.

Harrison staved off on simply asking Barry what was wrong, not wanting the young man to retreat further into himself. Instead he kept on observing and trying to see if he could discern what was putting such a quiet look of sadness on the prince's face.

A couple of hours later Leonard Snart himself was doing everything he could not to stare at the pitifully small amount of food on Barry's plate. They were currently in the private dining room, just the two of them. What was supposed to be an enjoyable time together had instead turned into Len quietly eyeing his husband with silent concern and Barry eating without any of his usual gusto. Finally, Len could no longer stay silent.

" Kid, are you alright?" Barry looked up from the strips of steak he was mostly just picking at with his fork when his husband addressed him, seeming to almost snap back into reality.

" Huh? Oh! Y-yeah Len, I am okay, why do you ask?" Barry said quietly as he began eating again. Len wasn't convinced for a second but he decided not to just pow through and demand to know what's going on. Instead he forced himself to smile and shake his head.

" Nothing its just, you usually pile your plate high every day, now its an ant-hill." He said, feeling good when he coaxed a smile out of Barry, but it had a slight brittle quality to it.

" I am just not all that hungry today, that's all Len." Barry said simply with another one of those smiles that didn't really match up to his normally bright grins.

Len nodded, having to accept Barry's answer as he went back to eating himself, but he was only half paying attention to the food, the rest of his focus being on observing Barry sitting across from him. Len could see the beginnings of dark circles starting to form under Barry's eyes, clear sign that he had not bee sleeping properly. His face had a slightly drawl quality now instead of the usual brightness that was always there. Even the brightness of his hazel green eyes had dimmed somewhat over these last few days, and if Len were honest, he absolutely hated the muddy, brown colored tudor jacket Barry was currently wearing, so dour and devoid of brightness. Another telling sign was that Barry had not worn any jewelry around his shoulders like he normally did, no chain, not even an medallion, just nothing. All he word were his wedding band and his mother's engagement ring on his right little finger. The quiet resplendence that Len had always seen in Barry had dimmed almost to nothing. Sure he was still handsome, but the light, that wonderful light had been turned down greatly.

Once lunch was over Len and Barry had to part ways again, before he let Barry go Len pulled his husband into his arms, hugging him tightly. Barry laughed against his shoulder, but it was a quiet laugh and not one of his bright chuckles.

" I love you Barry." Len said against Barry's ear. Barry drew back a little so that he could look at Len, the King gladdened to see a warm and genuine smile spread across his husband's face as Barry spoke.

" I love you too Len, very much." He said before he leaned in and pressed his lips to Len's. Len tightened his hold around Barry, deepening the kiss and pouring as much love into as he could muster. Barry began to respond, kissing Len back fervently, but then something seemed to shut down within him as he gently pulled away, smiling warmly, if with this quiet sadness barely veiled within his hazel green eyes. Cupping Len's cheek for a lingering moment, Barry then stepped out of his and Len's shared embrace.

" I'll see you later husband." Barry said quietly. Len smiling back and nodding as he let Barry go.

Len's eyes lingered on Barry until the young man disappeared out of sight down the hall. Then Len leaned against edge of the table, his expression troubled. There was no denying that melancholy had taken hold of his beloved, and Len absolutely hated it. He couldn't just barge in an demand the truth from Barry, that would be an affront to their relationship and to Barry himself. As he sat there Len wracked his brain for any and all options, who could he ask? Who knew Barry best beside him? It was then that Len stood up, a clear plan forming and just the right person coming to mind.

With that Len was off to go and find the one person here in Nevar who had known Barry the longest. And since said person had not joined them for lunch today, Len decided the best place to go to find him was in this persons own quarters within the palace. Calling Ronnie to him, Len headed off.

A few minutes later in set of smaller apartments on the left side of the palace, Cisco looked up when the doors to his living room area opened up, since Barry and Len had opted for a private lunch together, he had come back home to his apartments to freshen up and eat lunch alone since Lisa was busy with guild work today. He was supposed to meet up with Barry back in the Healing Wing. When he saw who was walking in, Cisco immediately stood to attention and then bowed to Leonard and also nodding to Ronnie.

" Your Majesty." He greeted with all respect and formality, though he did look just a little nervous.

" Hello Cisco, I am glad I caught you. I hope you don't mind me just barging in like this." Len said quietly. Cisco just shook his head.

" Not at all my king, I-I am surprised though. What brings you here?" He asked, feeling his nervousness increase ten-fold. Had his majesty found out about him and Lisa and come here to person grind him to dust?

With a small sigh, Len gestured for the doors to be shut for some privacy before he took a seat on one of the plush looking chairs in Cisco's living room area before motioning for the young man to do the same.

Deciding to cut to the chase, Len spoke.

" Cisco, have you noticed how sad Barry's been these last few days?" He asked.

Cisco immediately sat up straighter and took a moment to think. Len watched as realization slowly dawned on the young Marquis' face as he began to nod his head.

" Yes, yes my King, now that you mention it, he's been really quiet lately and in the mornings he's always shooting down my suggestions and picking out the darker colors. He's always liked bright colors ever since he was a kid." Cisco said, growing concerned himself.

" He's not eating right either, and I am noticing the circles that are starting to form under his eyes, he's been having trouble sleeping too these last few of days, but he's always up and ready for sword training in the mornings so I hadn't noticed it until lunch just a little while ago." Len added before he sighed and leaned forward.

" Cisco, has he said anything to you, anything at all?" The King asked. Cisco could only shake his head.

" No your majesty, he hasn't told me anything, he's just been doing what he normally does but it's like his love for it all, that spark he has whenever he's doing something, it's just... it's not there." He said quietly. There was a beat of concerned silence between Cisco and Len, before Len spoke.

" This doesn't make sense Cisco, he was fine up until a few days ago, normal. Why would he suddenly take such a downward turn mood wise?" Cisco could only shrug as he wracked his brain. Then he spoke.

" I know what you mean you majesty, he's Barry, he's always upbeat, like nothing can bring him down. I've hardly ever seen him this sad, I mean the only time Barry gets really sad is when..." Cisco trailed off and Len watched in alarm as all of the color drained out of the younger man's face, leaving it almost gray while his dark eyes grew wide and horrified.

" Oh my God. Oh my God I can't... I am so stupid" Cisco breathed as he shot to his feet, his hands going to his head, fisting chunks of his long black hair as he let out a shaky breath.

" Cisco?" Len asked in concern as he quickly rose from his own seat and rushed over to Cisco, who looked like he was on the verge of a massive panic attack. Len reached out and gently pried Cisco's hands off his head and then gripped him firmly by the shoulders.

" Cisco, look at me, just look at me." Len ordered sternly, feeling Cisco's whole body start to tremble under his palms. Cisco fought through the sheer, un-adultered panic and mortification he was feeling and looked up at Len, his eyes starting to fill a little with tears.

" Alright, I want you to take a deep breath, calm down, and tell me what's going one." Len said gentle but firmly. Cisco did as Len said, taking in a deep breath before he he spoke, his face crumbling a little.

" Y-You're majesty, what's today's date?" Cisco asked softly. Len's brow knitted in confusion at the randomness of the question, but he answered Cisco anyway.

" Today is the ninth day of December." Len said, watching as Cisco blinked back the tears as he took a shuddering breath and spoke.

" What happened to Barry two days from now, when he was nine?" Len still looked and a heartbroken Cisco with confusion, but as he mulled over Cisco's words, he began to put it all together and when he did, Len felt like someone had poured a ton of jagged bricks straight on top of his head.

Cisco watched as Len's whole face went slack with shock, but the shock was quickly replaced by a look of horror to match Cisco's.

" Oh God." Len breathed as his grip on Cisco's shoulders tightened painfully.

" His parents, two days from now marks the anniversary of the night he lost his parents." Len said quietly. Cisco could only nod, his throat constricting painfully. From where he stood, Ronnie looked stricken himself at the revelation.

For a few moments that crawled by like life-ages of the Earth, Len just stood their with Cisco, the both of them lost in their dismay. But then Len snapped out of it, the disbelief and horror on his face turning into one of determination as he looked at Cisco with stern eyes.

" Cisco, I believe our Prince has suffered alone for long enough. I am going to go and find him where ever he is and bring him to our apartments. I want you to go and get my sister, bring her there as well, explain to her what's going on, tell her that her new brother needs her right now." Cisco sniffled a little, but then a look of understanding and determination spread over his face as well as he composed himself and stood up straighter, meeting Len's intense gaze head on.

" As you command my king." Cisco said with a small bow before he turned sharply on his heels and headed out the door. Len then turned to Ronnie, beckoning his page closer.

" My King?" Ronnie asked.

" I want you to go down to the kitchens and tell them that me and Barry are going to have dinner up in the royal apartments tonight, so nothing to fancy. Tell them to have my husband's favorite chicken dish prepared for you and Cisco to pick up at around sunset, and be sure to tell them to have some of that special sleeping tea sent up as well." Len ordered.

" Your will my king." Ronnie said before he too hurried off to do as his king commanded.

Once he was alone, Len took a moment to allow himself some self-flagellation.

" Ah Len, you idiot." Len grumbled to himself and he scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. So much for his observation skills, his husband had gone into a depression right under his nose and the reason why was only just now dawning on him after three whole days. With a shake of his head, Len shoved his feelings of mortification aside, for there would be plenty of time for him to keep kicking himself later, right now he need to go and find Barry.

With that Len rushed out of Cisco's apartments to go and find Barry. It took all Len had not to just run as full speed down the halls, since this qualified as an emergency to him and he was still a very fast runner thank you very much. Instead Len walked calming but quickly down the hall, not wanting to cause a panic and also not wanting to embarrass his already emotionally downtrodden husband.

Slowly but surely the archway of the Healing Wing came into view. Taking a deep breath, Len walked into the Healing Wing and made his way down the aisle of the main ward that was flanked on either side by the rows of immaculately made cots that were mostly empty save for one or two misfortunate souls either sick or with minor injuries. It was a big palace after all, with a large staff performing various duties, it was inevitable that not everything ram smoothly every day. The Healing Wing was always at the ready to deal with whatever crisis, big or small. As he walked further inward, Len sped up his pace when he caught sight of Lord Harrison Wells, dressed in his usual black robes and tending to a young lady, her uniform indicating that she was part of the kitchen staff, who appeared to have a cut on her hand. Harrison was just finishing up the bandage soaked in antiseptic herbs when he saw Len approaching. In an instant both Harrison and his patients were on their feet and bowing to their king. Len gave a nod of acknowledgment and mustered a smile despite the desperate urge he felt to simply find Barry.

" Don't mind me Lord Wells, tend your patient first." He said pleasantly.

Harrison smiled and nodded before he turned back to the young lady and have her instructions of taking care of her bandaged hand before giving her the go ahead. As the young lady stepped past Len, eying him with just a little bit of awe, the king sent the maiden a warm look.

" Feel better" He said simply with a smile, his teeth appearing when the young woman blushed bright red and nodded.

" T-Thank you, you majesty." The girl stuttered before he gave him a hasty curtsy and all but fled.

Len then turned to Harrison, his expression growing serious as he remembered why he was here, or more specifically, who he was here for.

" Where is he Harrison?" Len asked quietly. Harrison's smiled with approval before he gestured behind him.

" He's in the apothecary." Harrison said just a quietly. Len nodded and sent Harrison a half smile as he spoke.

" I know why he'd been feeling this way, I'll explain things later." Harrison nodded in acceptance as he spoke.

" Better to cure the melancholy first before explaining it." Harrison agreed before he headed off.

" I'll be in my office, if you need anything, let me know." Len gave Harrison a final nod before he too stepped forward, making his way towards the apothecary area. The metal doors were thankfully open, so Len just stepped through. Once there his eyes went to the many work tables that were neatly arranged within the large space amidst the shelves of many bottles and boxes of medicines and supplies. Len could see that there were other apprentices diligently working throughout the area. When some of them caught sight of him he quickly brought his finger to his lips in the universal sign for them to keep silent. Len quickly made his way further into the apothecary, seeking out the familiar tall and lean figure with the chocolate brown hair.

Len felt a jolt go through him when he finally caught sight of Barry sitting at a work table all alone in a far corner of the apothecary, right by one of the large stain-glass windows that held glasses of various shades of blues and purples in the shape of a Nevarian snowflake. Barry was quietly writing out the labels for whatever medicine would go into the various bottles and boxes, and in the light that was coming in through the window, he looked so very pale and drawn, so uncharacteristically unhappy that Len felt his heart give a painful, painful lurch at the sight of him.

Len did his best to approach quietly, though Barry seemed listless as he did his work, Len noted that he was still doing it diligently. Barry had just finished writing the labels for the newest bottles of Thalo root powder that had been made earlier in the day. He was about to reach for some fresh labels to start writing on them, but instead he nearly jumped out of his skin when a pair of slightly cooler than normal, but familiar hands lightly covered his own, halting his movements. Barry looked up into the warm, if saddened steel blue eyes of his husband.

Before he could say anything, Barry found himself all but pulled up from his seat. The hands that had been covering his now reached up and gently held Barry's face. Barry looked at Len with confusion swirling in his hazel green eyes as Len just looked back at him without saying anything. They stayed that way for a long beat until Len finally spoke.

" I know Kid, I know." He said simply. Len felt Barry freeze up against him as comprehension dawned on him, but then Barry's face crumbled. Len couldn't stand it any longer as he pulled Barry too him, engulfing his husband in a near bone-crushing embrace, one which Barry returned just as fervently.

Len felt Barry's breath hitch, but he felt pride in his husband, because Barry didn't just dissolve into tears and wails, he still stood tall and just accepted the comfort Len was offering him. They held each other for several long moments before Len finally drew back, but only so that he could press his lips to Barry's. They shared a lingering kiss before the finally drew apart. Without saying a word, and with Barry's eyes already over bright, Len firmly took hold of his husband's hand and they walked out of the apothecary and then the Healing Wing altogether, neither saying another word as they headed for the royal apartments.

 _About ten minutes later, in the royal apartments..._

When Len and Barry walked through the main doors to the royal apartments, they were both pleased beyond words and touched deeply when they saw that Lisa, Cisco, Ronnie, and Caitlyn were all waiting for them in the living room area.

Barry was barely inside the room before Lisa was all but flying across it and tackling him in another bone crushing hug. Len found himself smiling as he watched Barry's face finally light up with genuine joy after those three days of forced smiles and trying to put up a brave face. Pretty soon Barry and Len were surrounded as they all sat around the fireplace area.

" I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you all." Barry said sheepishly. Len shook his head and sighed as he wrapped his arm around Barry's shoulders, pulling him in close as he spoke.

" You were feeling this horrible for days Barry, you should've come to us, any of us would have listened." Len said in gentle reprimand while Lisa, Cisco, Ronnie, and Caitlyn all made noises of agreement. Barry ducked his head.

" I was just feeling a little sad, that's all." He tried to deflect, but Lisa shook her head.

" Even then you should have come to us Barry. You are always there for us to lean on, always there to listen to any of us when we need to vent our problems, well don't you know it goes both ways, that all of us are just as much here for you to lean on yourself, especially when you're feeling this bad?" She asked with a little sternness while Len, Cisco, Ronnie, and Caitlyn all nodded in agreement.

They watched as Barry's cheeks heated up, but he was smiling as he nodded his head. But then the smile was fading away as he looked up at them with tired hazel green eyes and spoke.

" I just wanted things to be alright, to be strong like they'd want me to be." He said softly, almost whispering it as his throat tightened up and his hazel eyes filled with tears.

Barry finally allowed himself to break after he said these words, Len tightening his hold around him while Lisa took one of his hands and squeezed it hard. Caitlyn offered kind words, while Ronnie his own understanding, for he had himself lost his parents, his father due to a wasting illness, and his mother to grief just a few years later. Cisco shared in Barry's tears, his heart breaking for his best friend and Prince, but also in guilt for not having noticed Barry's quiet decline into sadness.

Hours passed this way Len, Lisa, Cisco, Ronnie, and Caitlyn all lending Barry their support as he finally released all that he had been holding in. It had pained them all too see Barry so pale and sad as he told them of just how much he was missing his parents right now. It was just after sunset that Lisa and Caitlyn reluctantly tok their leave while Ronnie and Cisco had gone off down to the kitchens to go and get dinner for the royal couple.

Once they were alone, Len took Barry's face into his hands and pressed his lips to his husband's forehead. Barry sniffled and let out a soft, watery laugh at the gesture.

" I'm sorry." He said quietly and he reached up and gently gripped Len's hips. Len sighed and shook his head against Barry's.

" Me too, I should've known that this was coming up, I mean you told me the date and everything." Len said as he sent Barry an apologetic look.

The next thing Len knew, a pair of soft and warm lips were pressed against his own. Len smiled against Barry's lips as he returned the chaste kiss. When they drew away, Len was pleased so see some of the sadness was gone from those hazel green eyes as Barry spoke.

" Hey, you aren't supposed to remember everything." He assured. Len could only smile wanly.

Then the doors to the royal apartments were opening once more as Ronnie and Cisco returned baring the trays with the king and Prince Consort' dinner. Len and Barry both took their seats at the small table by the window and went about eating, Len, Ronnie, and Cisco all gladdened when they saw that Barry ate with a little more gusto than he had shown in the days past, even if it wasn't the full enjoyment he usually displayed. Cisco and Ronnie both went out of their way to hold quiet conversation with the royals, internally rejoicing whenever they could make Barry smile, or even laugh lightly.

Once the food was eaten and both Len and Barry had each drank a cup of the sleeping tea, Cisco and Ronnie cleared the empty trays and took their leave.

Len and Barry retired to their bedroom and got ready for bed, ducking into their changing suites to change out of their royal attire and into sleepwear. Once they came back out, Len could see that the tea was already taking affect on his husband, who was already a bit sleep deprived, Barry's hazel eyes barely open as he shuffled about the room, pulling down the curtains and blowing out candles to darken the room. In all honesty, Len was feeling the effects of the tea himself, a pleasant lethargy settling over him as he and Barry climbed under the covers. They immediately sought each other out, laying together wrapped in each other's arms. As they lay there with sleep tugging insistently at them, Len sighed and spoke.

" Share some of your best memories with me until we fall asleep." He said quietly as he lay facing Barry. Barry gazed back at Len with a small smile, and his sleepy eyes a bit over bright as he nodded and began to quietly regale Len with stories of his parents, like how Henry Allen, for all of his regality and wisdom as a king, had also been one of the biggest jokesters in Central Kingdom who had once reduced a foreign dignitary to tears because he had made the man laugh so hard. When Barry spoke of his mother, Len found his own sleepy eyes filling a bit as Barry recounted how, even with being the Queen of Central Kingdom, Nora Allen was not afraid to get her hand dirty, working on the palace gardens, planting and cultivating things all by herself. To this day her work in gardening could still be seen at the Central Kingdom Palace grounds.

" I'll... _yawn_... I'll definitely show my mom's favorite gardens when we go visit Central Kingdom someday." Barry murmured, his speech slurred with oncoming sleep. Len sighed and nodded, barely awake himself.

" Yeah, someday soon." He said. Beside him Barry hummed and finally drifted away into the first peaceful slumber he had had in days.

Len stayed awake for a little bit longer, gazing fondly at his now sleeping husband. He loved this man, he loved him more deeply than he thought he could ever love another again.

 _" I may not be able to bring them back to you kid, but I can make sure they are honored like they deserve to be."_ Len thought with sleepy determination before he too drifted off into peaceful slumber.

 _The next afternoon..._

" Alright people, any ideas?" Len said with a smile as he looked around the proverbial war table.

In actuality it was just the dest in his study with him sitting in his chair, and those he had recruited to help him carry out his plan standing around it. Earlier in the morning he had been pleased beyond measure to see that some of the sadness had left his husband if the way Barry had nearly inhaled dinner had been anything to go on. Len had been doubly pleased when Barry had dressed in an outfit that Len had picked out for him, a bright and elegant cerulean blue Tudor jacket with gold piping around the collar and spiraling down the sleeves. Barry had attended the morning meeting with Len and had been an active participant, asking questions and making suggestions like he usually did. After the meeting Len had reluctantly parted with Barry, the latter heading off with Cisco down to the Healing Wing. It was then that Len had sent Ronnie to go and round up the key players who now sat around Len's desk.

Lisa, Harrison Wells, Mark Mardon, Ronnie, and Caitlyn all stood with looks of contemplation on their faces as they wracked their brains for ideas as their king had asked. It was Caitlyn who spoke up first.

" Would a portrait commissioned in their honor work my King?" She asked.

Len mulled Caitlyn's words over while the others did the same, before he shook his head.

" No, I don't think we have enough time Lady Snow, and besides that Barry would have to be the one to describe his parents to the artist, and we do want this to be a surprise for him." Len said kindly, while Caitlyn nodded.

" He still thinks we're just going to have a small dinner in his parents honor right?" Lisa asked. Len nodded, sharing a smile with his sibling. If it was one thing he and Lisa enjoyed greatly, it was surprising people, especially a certain tall and Hazel eyed prince that they both loved.

" Is it possible to bring his Highness' family from Central Kingdom here for the honoring of his parents?" Mark Mardon suddenly asked.

All eyes turned to Len who sighed and shook his head.

" When I was planning Barry's birthday surprise, I had several weeks. This time around I don't think we can pull it off since we have only today and tomorrow." He said sadly.

Everyone grew silent again as they wracked their brains for more ideas. It was Lisa, with brilliant smiling spreading across her face who finally broke the silence.

" Big Brother, I know just the perfect thing we can do for Barry and his mom and dad." She declared before she went about explaining what she had in mind.

By the time this secret meeting concluded, Mark, Harrison, Caitlyn, and Ronnie all left with smiles on their faces and clear tasks delegated to them to fulfill. Since Harrison was heading down to the Healing Wing, he would be the one to discreetly inform Cisco of the plan and spreading the word to as much of the kingdom as possible through the palace's veritable army of messengers. Mark was tasked with informing the men he commanded as general, while Ronnie and Caitlyn were charged with quietly spreading the word to everyone in the palace.

As Len and Lisa stood in his study, the King smiling fondly at his sister as he spoke.

" You're a genius Sis." He said with gratitude. Lisa grinned before she reached out and wrapped her brother in a tight hug as she spoke.

" That I know." She said with a bit of smugness, but it was quickly replaced by something more quiet and very genuine.

" I just really hope we can pull this off." Len gave his sister a gentle squeeze and nodded against her shoulder as he spoke.

" We will." He said with surety before he drew back and eyed his sister with a determined glint in his striking blue eyes.

" Now, let's get to work." Lisa couldn't agree more.

 _Two nights later..._

Len sighed as he watched Barry make some final adjustments to his outfit in the large standing mirror within his changing suite. After Len had gotten ready himself, he had quietly ducked into his husband's changing suite. He may not have been needed for Barry to dress, but Len deemed that he could be there as a silent support in the background.

Tonight was the night of the quiet dinner in tribute to Barry's parents, whom the Prince had lost at the tender age of nine due to his uncle's madness.

As he stood leaning against the door to Barry's suit, quietly observing his husband, Len could not help but still admire his husband. Barry was dressed in a gorgeous deep red Tudor jacket with a deep, bronzy gold filigree overlay. He had forgone the long over jacket, and instead had on dark red leather trousers and black knee-length boots. On his head he wore his simple filigree coronet, and draped over his shoulders was the chain of gold discs with rubies inlaid into each that met at the center where the Sunburst emblem of Central Kingdom hung over Barry's heart. Most poignant though, was that Barry was wearing his mother's engagement ring on his right pinky while around his waist hung his father Henry's great broad sword with red jeweled pommel. Despite the resplendence, Barry's expression was one of somberness as he made some final adjustments to the chain he was wearing.

Beside him a quiet Cisco stood dressed in the colors of Central Kingdom as well, wearing a Tudor Jacket of earthy gold with a deep red sash over his right shoulder baring the Sunburst emblem.

Len himself was dressed in full regalia. He wore a deep, royal blue tudor jacket with matching over-jacket. Over the elegant blue was a gold filigree pattern similar to Barry's, with gold piping swirling down the sleeves. Light tan fur lines the hem of his over jacket and shoulders. Draped over his shoulders was a chain of bright yellow diamonds that met at the center were a gold and platinum Nevarian Snowflake emblem hung. To finish out the look, Len wore a regal crown of gold Fleur De Lis with a pale oval cut ice blue gem situated at each point. From his waist hung his wedding sword with the combined snowflake and lightening bold pommel, while his wedding band glinted softly on his left ring finger.

Finally, not being able to stand the distance between them, however short, Len pushed himself away from the suite door and walked across the room to his husband.

Barry turned away from the mirror to face his husband, his hazel eyes sad, but not tearful. With a deep breath, Barry spoke.

" Am I presentable my King?" He asked with a soft, sad smile.

" Since when are you ever not?" Len countered with a soft smirk of his own, silently thrilled when his words got Barry to let out a soft laugh. Len quickly grew serious as he reached out and tenderly cupped Barry's cheek, the younger man leaning into his hand as he spoke.

" You ready to go?" He asked, to which Barry sighed and nodded.

" Ready as I'll ever be." He said with a sad smile. The smile brightened a little as Len leaned in and gave him a chaste kiss. When they drew back, Len gestured for them to get going.

As he hurried past the royal couple to open the suite door for them, Cisco momentarily caught eyes with the King, sending Len a quick wink which Len subtly returned. Then the royal couple were stepping out of the changing suite door and into their living room area were Ronnie, dressed in deep blue robes but with a red sash going across his ride shoulder like Cisco's was waiting. He and Cisco quickly fell in step behind the respective royal they served, Ronnie smoothly reaching down and picking up the end of Len's over-jacket so that it did not drag on the floor as they made their way down the hallway, the great dining hall being their destination.

Once they were at the doors, they were met by Lisa and Caitlyn. Though she was decked out in finery, Lisa's overall look was more subdued and demure than what she usually wore. She had on a deep navy blue gown with bell sleeves and gold filigree overlaying the bodice. She wore a simple filigree tiara on her head with her hair done up in a simple bun. Around her neck was a gold chocker with the Nevarian Snowflake emblem at its center. Beside the Princess, Caitlyn stood in a dark Cornflower blue gown. She too wore a red sash across her right shoulder. Cisco sent Lisa a quiet smile before he quickly looked ahead, not wanting to arouse suspicions.

Lisa hugged Barry first, giving him a near bone-bending squeeze before she let him go and hugged Len. She then took up her place on Barry's other side with Caitlyn behind her as the six of them waited at the doors to the dining hall for the gong to sound. When it did sound, reverberating through everything, Barry looked straight ahead but his hand sought out Len, gripping it tightly. From the other side of the doors, all of the muffled sounds of many people gathered and talking fell silent. Len simply squeezed it back as the doors fell away with a low groan to reveal the dining hall. As the royals and their dutiful attendants stepped forward, the royal announcing loud voice sounded.

" All hail his Majesty King Leonard Snart, all hail his royal highness Prince Consort Bartholomew Henry Allen, and all hail Her Royal Highness Princess Lisa Snart. All hail the royal family of Nevar accompanied by his Grace, Lord Ronald Raymond, his wife the Lady Caitlyn Snow-Raymond, and his Grace Lord Cisco Ramon."

The moderately sized crowd of nobles that had been exclusively invited to the gathering all bowed from where they stood on either side of the elegant long tables as Len, Barry, and Lisa all made their way towards the raised head table that was reserved for them.

Most tellingly absent from the crowd of invited guests were Lord James Jesse and Lord Roscoe Dillion. While many nobles had been invited, Len had decided that he would spare his melancholic husband and perhaps even everyone else from having to listen to the near insatiable gossip of these two Lord, not to mention they were notorious for making crass comments about everything. The last thing Len wanted was for them to come here and say something about Barry's murdered parents. Besides, he just used the guise that he and Barry were not really friends with these two lords, and this was not a social gathering but a tribute where respect was stringently expected.

When they reached the head table, they were joined by Lord Harrison Wells, dressed in his regular black robes but with a large Central Kingdom Sunburst emblem pin situated over his left breast and General Mark Mardon wearing his ceremonial armor but with a red sash across his right shoulder. Once the royals and their closest friends and attendants were seated, Len gave the gesture for everyone else to take their seats. Once everyone else was seated, Len looked to Barry, who returned the gaze with his sad hazel eyes and nodded, for it was now it was time for him to address the crowds and let them know why they were here.

Taking a deep breath, Barry rose to his feet and looked around the crowd as he spoke.

" Friends, we are gathered here on this night in tribute to my late parents, Henry Edward Charles Allen and Nora Margaret Anne Allen, King and Queen of Central Kingdom, who sixteen years earlier on this date were ripped away from me by a madman, my father's own brother Eobard Allen, who sought to usurp the throne for himself." Barry said firmly, keeping his voice steady and falling silent as the hall gasped and groaned at his startling revelation. When things had quieted down Barry took a deep breath, blinked back the burn behind his eyes and continued.

" While I was raised well by his majesty King Joseph West and there is no doubt that we are family, I will still forever lament that my parents are no longer here in the living world. They did not get to see me reach adulthood, or be here as they should have been when I married one the most amazing, kind, and benevolent men in all this world, you king." Barry said as he took a moment to gaze at his husband.

Barry's unexpected words about him were like a punch right to Len's heart, and it was only his years of experience in maintaining his poise that stopped the King from just jumping up and taking Barry into his arms. There would be plenty of time for that later as Len subtly blinked his eyes against the burning sensation that had started up behind them and sent Barry a quiet, loving smile. Barry returned it before he turned to gaze at Lisa and continued.

" Nor were they here to see me earn the privilege of calling her Highness the Princess my sister." He added, watching as Lisa's eyes filled with tears which she valiantly kept at bay as she smiled up at him too. Barry took another steadying breath before he turned his gaze back to the crowd, some of whom were already looking a little misty-eyed.

" Today was my parents first death anniversary that I have spent here in Nevar. The pain I have felt these last few days would have been overwhelming but for the kindness and love of my husband, sister-in-law, and all who I consider my friends here in Nevar. I thank you all for so graciously attending tonight's tribute feast, it means everything for I know that my parents were not your king and queen, yet the respect you have all given them makes me all the more honored to serve as your Prince Consort. T-Thank you one and all for this night." Barry finally concluded, his voice wavering in the end.

There was a beat of silence before the entire hall was erupting in thunderous applause. Barry ducked his head as he let a few tears slip free while he slowly sank back down into his throne like chair beside his husband. Before he could wipe the tears away, Barry laughed as he found himself yanked sideways into a deep kiss by Len. When they drew back, Barry could see that Len himself was deeply moved.

" I love you Kid." Len said quietly, to which Barry smiled and nodded.

" I love you too Len, and thank you for this." Barry said quietly.

No sooner had he and Len drew back, Barry was being pulled to the other side as a tearful Lisa hugged him soundly. Len then gave the nod to the servants who then moved like clockwork to bring out the sumptuous dishes that had been prepared for the tribute feast. Soon the head table and the long tables were laden with the best from the palace kitchens, and the feasting began. While the air was not as lively or jubilant as other feast, since this was in only of the dearly departed, there was still this quiet, celebratory atmosphere instead of mourning.

Everyone feasted and spoke only of praising the man and the woman from whom Bartholomew Henry Allen had been born of, for if their son was their spitting image both physically and by way of his nature, they themselves must have been truly good and decent people.

The hours passed with Barry graciously receiving condolences and indulging everyone from Len all the way to Mark who wanted to get him to eat something, and then the dishes were bing cleared away and the royals were standing and exiting the dining hall for what Barry assumed would be them taking their leave of their guests for the night. Instead, Len and Lisa were leading Barry towards the front of the palace, instead of back to the royal apartments.

" Guys, where are we going?" Barry asked as he walked hand in hand with Len, who along with Lisa just smiled.

" Wait and see New Brother." Lisa said, behind her Cisco, Ronnie, Caitlyn, Harrison, and Mark all smiling with eagerness.

As they drew closer, Barry realized that they were headed for the great balcony that overlooked the entire kingdom.

" What's going on?" Barry asked as he and Len came to a stop at the center of the large balcony which had a large Nevarian Snowflake emblem inlaid within it in elegant white marble. It was Len who squeezed Barry's hand and spoke.

" Well, we all got together because we wanted to do something a little extra than just a dinner for your mom and day." Len began, Barry looking around as Lisa, Cisco, Ronnie, Caitlyn, Harrison, And Mark all nodded and smiled warmly at him as they gathered around.

Already feeling several powerful emotions rise up inside him, Barry swallowed and forced himself to speak.

" What did you guys do?" He asked softly.

" It was Sis' idea." Len said as he gave Lisa the nod.

 _(Author's Note: Please try listening to "Swept From the Sea" by John Barry from the soundtrack to the movie 'Swept From the Sea')_

With a soft grin Lisa quickly made her way over to the marble railing of the great stone balcony and signaled to those down below. A few minutes later Barry was gasping in awe as the night grew brighter with a soft golden light as countless red and yellow colored sky lanterns slowly rose up from down below in the palace ground and floated up towards the star filled night sky.

Len himself was awed by the sheer, quiet beauty of the countless red hued lights as they floated past the balcony up towards the heavens.

" Oh my God." Barry whispered as he rushed to the railing and looked down. It stole his breath when he saw that down below the palace courtyard was filled to the brim with just about every servant, soldier, and the nobles who had come to attend the dinner, some in the process of lighting and releasing their lanterns.

Barry awe grew as he looked past the lanterns of the courtyard to see that all over the city-like kingdom, lanterns were alight and slowly rising towards the sky.

" Did I do a good job New Brother?" Lisa asked tearfully, causing Barry to turn sharply as gaze at her, only them realizing the tears that were streaming from his own eyes. With a choked sob, Barry lunged forward and seized Lisa in a tight hug. Lisa laughed tearfully as Barry kept saying thank you in her ear over and over again.

It all looked like something straight out of a dream and thousands of lanterns gently ascended the skies, the crescent moon glowing a soft white high above.

" Barry, Sis." Len called lightly.

Barry and Lisa tearfully pulled away from each other, but they were both smiling when they saw that Len was holding a red lantern ready to be lit. Around him the others too were holding an unlit lantern or either red or yellow hue, while some servants stood at the ready with candles to provide the necessary flame. Barry and Lisa hurried over to Len, Lisa explaining.

" We all wanted to do something extra for you so we brainstormed, and then I remembered that the paper mill had started making sky lanterns last month, so Len and I commissioned them to make enough lanterns so that just about everyone in Nevar could light one in honor of your parents. Mark made sure the soldiers all got their lantern while Harrison took care of all the noble families. Ronnie and Caitlyn took care of the palace staff, while Cisco worked to keep you in the dark." Lisa said. Barry let out a watery laugh sobered and looked around at the many smiling faces and tearful eyes of his family.

" Well then let's light ours up." He said thickly. Len smiled back before he gestured for the candle holding servants to come forward.

Carefully, everyone lit up the little fuel cells on the lanterns. Once the light flames were going everyone flipped the lanterns over so that they could fill with the hot air. Barry found his face crumbling when he finally notices that stamped on the front of each lantern was an elegant letter 'H' intertwined with the letter 'N', for Henry and Nora.

Once their lanterns were fully inflated by the hot air Barry, Len, and Lisa led the way to the stone railing. Everyone else waited respectfully as together, Barry, Len, and Lisa released their red lantern to join the thousands already in the sky. Cisco, Ronnie, and Caitlyn each released their lanterns, followed by Mark and Harrison. Then they all stood together at the railing to watch the beautifully sight of all the lanterns peacefully floating through the sky.

As they all stood there, no one said a word, they stood in a hallowed silence as they watched the lanterns, all thinking about Henry and Nora Allen, but also of those that they themselves had lost. Loved ones lost came to mind unbidden. As he stood with his arm around his wife Caitlyn, Ronnie could not help but remember he Father's laugh, and his mother's singing, beside him Caitlyn could not help but remember her paternal grandfather, the only grandparent she ever got to meet, and who love and warmth she cherished in every breath she took. He had passed from this Earth some eight years ago. From where he stood next to Lisa, Cisco thought of his own loved ones back in Central Kingdom, while no one had died, he could not help but think of his older brother Dante, and how they didn't exactly get along, so many petty jealousies and resentments between them. But maybe he could reach out, write Dante a letter and let him know that they would always be brothers, maybe they could start over. From where he stood, Mark reached up to wipe at his own tears, memories of his own lost one playing before his eyes, his little brother Clyde who had been a sailor, whom Mark had lost to the sea when a storm had sunken his ship. Mark allowed himself these few moments to remember and yearn, but he also felt a wave of peace in seeming to inherently know that wherever Clyde was, he was alright and happy. And finally, Harrison Wells stood gazing at the beautiful and poignant sight of the many yellow and red lanterns that filled the sky, remembering how beautiful his late wife Tess Morgan had looked in the soft, golden light of sunset on their last day together, when he had carried her to the beach and they had spent a perfect day together before she had finally succumb to the wasting illness that had slowly eroded away her strength, and Harrison had been powerless to stop.

Len stood with his arms around Barry and Lisa, not bothering to hide his tears as he too thought of Mick, and his mother Constantina, hoping that they were all well in the afterlife, and lamenting that he would never meet his beloved Barry's parents, He just hoped that they were all together somewhere out there in eternity. Instead of getting too sad about it, Len kept his arms around the two people who meant everything to him. Barry and Lisa were here with him, and he would guard them with all that he had. As she stood there wrapping in Len's embrace, Lisa took a moment to glance to her side where Cisco was standing, and in that moment as he looked away from the lanterns and met her tearful gaze with his own, Lisa knew for absolute certain that he was the one for her, and she would accept no one else.

Barry turned away from the sight of the lanterns and gazed out at the Winter kingdom and in that moment he finally felt like he was truly accepted by its people, that he had finally earned their love and respect, for how else could so many lanterns fill the skies in honor of his parents? Barry's eyes undoubtedly came to rest on the face of his husband. Len, seeming to sense Barry's eyes on him, turned his gaze away to meet those hazel eyes. They didn't lean in for a kiss or anything like that, they simply gazed at each other in the silence, smiling through their shared tears and feeling the true depths of the love they shared.

But while most of Nevar was partaking in the exquisite tribute to Barry's parents, at one dreary and once opulent estate near the outskirts of the city, no lanterns were lit and released. Instead the lord of the estate stood out on the balcony watching the floating lanterns with a disgusted sneer.

Lord James Jesse stood with deep loathing in his weathered eyes as he eyed the Nevarian palace in the distance, his fists clenched in quite rage. He burned, oh, he burned with rage as he thought of the King and his young cocksucker, how they were crying boohoo for the skinny brat's parents. They had insulted him so deeply by not inviting him to the dinner, and also by the king denying him his right to the land he wanted for a third time. Lord Jesse seethed quietly as he looked on, drunk from having polished off a full bottle of red wine and having terrorized his servants even more than he already did by throwing things at them and screaming at the top of his lungs.

James Jesse was always one to cause a good bit of chaos, and the special project he had been working on, the new poison he had created by distillation through the stomachs of those cows he had "borrowed" from the good Lord Scudder was just about ready. After this insult from King Snart, Lord Jesse decided that he now had the perfect test subject to see what kind of affect the drug would have. With a sick, gleeful smirk spreading across his face, Jesse scoffed as he turned his back to the castle and lanterns and headed inside, screaming for more wine and full on back handing the already bruised up servant, Hartley Rathaway, across the face when the young man wasn't fast enough for his liking. As he chugged more wine, Lord Jesse felt gleeful anticipation as a plan began to form in his alcohol addled mind.

The Winter Solstice Ball was only two weeks away after all, the perfect chance to make King Leonard Snart pay for the insult he had caused Lord James Jesse, and also see just how high an mighty Leonard Snart would be after he lost a second husband.

Just two weeks to see the wonderful damage he could cause, just two weeks.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Chapter 14

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" Cisco, will you relax already?" Barry said in exasperation as he worked to untangle the chain of state in his hand. In a bit of role reversal, Barry was the one now helping Cisco get dressed. The pair were currently in Barry's changing suite with Barry concentrating on righting the many disks and links of a gold chain of state with small, oval shaped rubies and diamonds inlaid into each disk, and with a Central Kingdom Sunburst emblem hanging from the center link, and Cisco pacing lightly and looking nervous beyond words.

Cisco for his part seemed not to hear his Prince's words to relax as he shook his head and ran agitated fingers through his neck-length black hair, straightening frizz that did not exist, a physical manifestation of the nerves he was feeling as he muttered under his breath.

" Oh man, oh man, he's gonna kill me, then she's gonna kill me. What the Hell was I thinking falling in love with a Princess." Cisco mumbled. Barry for his part smiled at his friends' "plight" and focused on fixing Cisco's best chain of state.

Tonight was the night where Cisco would finally go before the king and reveal his intention to make Princess Lisa Snart his wife. The Winter Solstice Ball was upon Barry and Cisco, their first one here in Nevar. Both were decked out in full finery for the occasion.

Barry was dressed in a regal sapphire blue Tudor jacket that del just above his knees and matching over-jacket that reached the floor with a light brown fur trim, with a high collar and indigo hues piping around the collar and sailing down the sleeve. Draped over his shoulders was his heavy wedding chain with the combine Central and Nevarian emblem, the snowflake with a lightening bolt going through it. On his right hand he wore his mother's engagement ring on his pinky, while on his right ring finger he had on the silver signet ring with the Snart family crest that Len had given him for his birthday. On his left was elegant wedding band of braided platinum and gold, wrapped in Nevarian ice glass. Around his waist Barry wore an elegant white jeweled sword belt from which hung an elegant long sword, with a swirling red hilt and golden pommel that was shaped like a snarling wolf's head, one of the swords he had inherited from his mother's side of the family. Atop his head was an elegant silver coronet of snowflakes and white gems and sapphires that seemed to almost glow in the light. Black leather trousers and knee-length boots finished off the look.

Cisco was dressed in a deep purple Tudor jacket with an lighter, magenta shaded filigree overlay and black piping along the collar, going down vertically over the chest and back, and sailing down the long sleeves. He wore black trousers and knee length black boots. On his right ring finger he wore a gold signet ring that bore the Ramon family crest. And the final piece of his attire was still being fixed by Barry, who sent his best friend a look of mock annoyance as he wrestled with one particularly stubborn disk. Cisco in his nervousness had tangle his chain while he was trying to drape it over his shoulders. By the time he had come to Barry for help the thing had nearly become a clump of precious metal and jewels. Barry sent Cisco a smile with the other man returned as the Prince Consort of Nevar slowly worked the disks loose until they were once more free and in alignment.

" Alright, just stand still and let me do it, don't touch anything." Barry said sternly as he stood before his best friend and held the chain up. Cisco did as his prince commanded, standing still as Barry gently lowered the heavy chain down over his head and over his shoulders. With a few light tugs hear and there, Barry then took a step back and admired his handiwork.

" How do I look your Highness?" Cisco asked with a smile, Barry grinning back as he spoke.

" Fit for a certain Princess' liking." Barry said simply, his grin widening as he watched Cisco's cheeks flush with color.

Then the pair were bursting into chuckles as they reached out and carefully hugged each other.

" I am gonna make a complete ass out of myself." Cisco said with a forlorn sigh, while Barry scoffed and shook his head and he spoke.

" Don't worry so much Cisco, it's gonna be alright, you guys are committed to each other, I saw it. Now you just have to tell Len and go from there" Barry said in assurance. He also grinned inwardly because he knew that Cisco was fretting for nothing, Len already knew about him and Lisa and while he did approve, Len did want to make his baby sister's suitor sweat a little.

" C'mon, we can't keep Len and Ronnie waiting." Barry said as he and Cisco both took some last looks at themselves in the mirror to make sure that everything was in order before Cisco hurried off to open the door to the suite that led into the living room area of the royal apartments.

The second Barry stepped through into the living room area and his eyes fell on Len, the Prince Consort swore that time stood still for a solid minute.

Barry's husband was a vision to behold. Len stood with an ornate golden filigree crown with amethyst stones glittering around the circumference and white diamonds on every point. He wore a deep purple tudor jacket that fell just above his knees, with matching leather trousers and shiny black knee length boots. Over the tudor jacket he word a luxurious looking floor length sleeveless over jacket of the same elegant hue with a rich gold filigree overlay. Around his waist he wore a gold sword belt from which hung a golden hilted long sword with two intertwined lion heads as a pommel. This was the sword that had once belonged to Leonard's paternal grandfather Richard Tyrell Alonso Snart, and had been passed down to him after Lewis' death. And finally, draped around Len's shoulders were an exquisite golden chain of state with gold discs inlaid with amethyst stones and pearls, meeting at the center where the large, intricately hewn golden Nevarian snowflake emblem hung with two smaller emblems flanking it on either side.

Len seemed to be having a moment himself when his eyes fell on Barry, his steely blue eyes lighting up as an admiring smile spread across his face. Barry no long blushed at the look, instead his smile grew even wider and warmth spread through him as he stepped across the room to give his husband a proper greeting. Within seconds Len found himself being thoroughly kissed by his husband, chuckling against Barry's lips as he fervently returned the gesture. From where he stood dressed in a light blue tudor jacket with a chain of state that consisted of four individual chains of gleaming silver with his family emblem hanging from the center, Ronnie smiled warmly at the open display of affection between the King and Prince he served. They had come such a long way since the day they had wed, going from veritable strangers, to the loving couple that now stood before him and Cisco. Barry and Len drew back, the both of them staying close and quietly complimenting each other on how good they looked. Then Len drew back further and spoke with a smile.

" Ready to go and hold your first Ball by my side my Prince?" He asked with a smile as he held out his hand. Smiling back, barry took the offered hand.

" As ready as I'll ever be my King." He said before he and Len proceeded out of the royal apartments with Ronnie and Cisco dutifully following in their wake.

As they walked hand in hand, Barry and Len chatted quietly, chuckling here and there, their day camaraderie on full display as they headed to Lisa's apartments. When they reached it, Len was the one to knock on the gold accented doors. A few moments later a smiling Caitlyn opened the doors and curtsied.

" Your Majesties." She said respectfully.

" Lady Snow." Len acknowledged with a smile while Barry and Cisco grinned at the way Ronnie was gazing at his wife. Caitlyn was dressed in a beautiful sky blue gown with a soft ivory filigree overlay on the bodice. Her light brown hair fell over her shoulders in soft waves. Around her neck was a gleaming silver choker identical to Ronnie's chain, while simple diamond studs adorned her ear lobes. She looked effortlessly gorgeous.

Caitlyn stepped aside so that Barry, Len, and Cisco could step into Lisa's living room area, while Ronnie lingered by the door with his wife so that they could share a private moment together.

" You look beautiful wife." Ronnie said softly as he rested his hands on Caitlyn's hips, pulling her in close while she had her hands pressed lightly to his chest as she smiled up at him.

" You don't look so bad yourself husband." Caitlyn said cheekily. Ronnie chuckled deeply before he leaned in and kissed his wife soundly.

The light clearing of a throat had them parting and turning their gazes to the center of the living room where Len, Barry, and Cisco were all eying them with amusement.

Feeling their cheeks heat up, Caitlyn gave Ronnie a quick peck on the lips before she quickly hurried away into Lisa's room. Ronnie hurriedly made his way back to his place behind Len, smiling sheepishly when Len pined his with a look. There was a beat of silence before Barry broke first, giggling profusely. Cisco was soon joining him while Len allowed himself a chuckle, Ronnie blushing bright red before he too joined in. They were all of them men deeply in love with their respective beloveds. But when the sound of a door opening caught their ears, they all fell silent and turned their gazes to Lisa's bedroom door, Cisco secretly most eager of them all.

Lisa finally made her entrance, and she was a sight to behold herself. She looked every bit the regal and elegant Princess that she was. Her long, chocolate brown hair was done in an elegant half up, half down style, atop which was a gorgeous tiara of gold with glittering white diamonds, at the center of which was a shining and delicate looking Nevarian Snowflake made of gleaming platinum. Her ears were adorned with tear drop diamonds, and around her neck was am elegant Elizabethan style choker of matching gold and gleaming white diamonds, with delicate loops of gold draped around the bottom edge. She wore an elegant gown of deep magenta with an elegant off-shoulder neckline, not unlike the shade a certain page was wearing. The gown had billowing bell sleeves with a deep gold filigree overlay and lush black fur lightly lining the trim. More lush black fur lined the hem of the gown, right under a band of golf filigree overlay. Her face was flawless, her striking blue eyes lightly lines with kohl, while her lips were painted a sultry merlot hue. She looked absolutely breathtaking.

It took all Cisco had not to let his jaw hang wide open as he stared at Lisa, scarcely believe that this was the woman who wanted to be his wife. Barry for his part kept a lookout and his elbow ready in case he needed to snap his best friend out of his gawking while Len stepped forward to greet his sister.

" You look beautiful Sis." He said with a smile as he lightly kissed her cheeks.

" Don't I always?" Lisa shot back with a grin as she returned her brother's gesture. Then Barry stepped forward.

" Gorgeous!" Barry said simply as he hugged Lisa, the Princess laughing lightly as she hugged Barry back.

Then Cisco was stepping forward and bowing to Lisa.

" Your Highness." He said, sending Lisa a brilliant smile once he straightened up.

" Your Grace." Lisa replied, addressing Cisco in accordance with his title as a Marquis and holding out her hand, her smiling widening as Cisco took it and kissed it gently, subtly squeezing it too as a spark of excitement passed between them. Tonight was the night.

Len and Barry shared a look, knowing full well what was going between Barry's best friend and Len baby sister. They couldn't wait either to see how the lovebirds handles themselves tonight, and how Cisco would present himself when he asked Len for Lisa's hand.

Lisa and Cisco quickly caught themselves and separated, Cisco returned to his usual place behind Barry while Lisa made her way to Len's other side while Caitlyn and Ronnie took up position behind their respective royals. Once they were in formation, they headed out of Lisa's apartments, the Great Hall being their destination.

" I don't know about you guys but I am starving." Barry said with a happy grin. Len just snorted.

" Since when are you not hungry, my dear bottomless pit?" The King ask, and then _his_ stomach chose that moment to let out a loud rumble. There was a beat of silence before everyone started laughing and Len ducked his head to hide his own grin.

" Guess I'm not the only one, husband mine." Barry chuckled before he leaned in an gave Len a sweet peck as they neared the carved wooden doors of the Great Hall.

They could already hear the noisy chatter coming from the other side, no doubt the hall was filled to the brim with everyone who had been invited to partake in the festivities on the longest night of the year.

 _" I hope they got the h'orderves out."_ Len thought eagerly as he stood hand in hand with Barry, and with Lisa standing by his other side before the grand doors, waiting for them to make their big entrance.

The traditional gong sounded and the great doors swung away slowly with a low groan, and then the royal announcer's voice boomed through the large hall.

" All hail his Majesty Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, Supreme ruler of Nevar, all hail his majesty Bartholomew Henry Allen, Prince Consort of Nevar, and all hail her majesty, Lisa Ileana Cassandra Snart, Princess of Nevar on this the Winter Solstice."

As one, Len, Barry, and Lisa all stepped forward across the marble threshold into the Great Hall, the trumpets blaring out a royal salute before the announcer's voice boomed again.

" In accompaniment of our royals, Lord Ronald Edward Philip Raymond of house Raymond, His Grace Cisco Antonio Ramon, Marquis of the Ramon family of Central Kingdom, and her Ladyship Caitlyn Elizabeth Anne Snow-Raymond of House Snow, and House Raymond on this the Winter Solstice."

As the party of six made their way down the long blue aisle that was lined with guards adorned in ornate, gleaming silver armor, the many nobles and men and women of note all bowed or curtsied in respect from where they stood on either side of the aisle as the royals and their attendants passed with the trumpets blaring a regal tune. Len, Barry, and Lisa all smiled and nodded in greeting, especially whenever they caught sight of a familiar face. Barry was a little disappointed that Joe, Iris, and Eddie were not here to celebrate the Winter Solstice Ball with them, while the invitation had been sent, Barry knew that they could not attend because Central Kingdom had its own celebrations that needed to be presided over.

Barry's eyes were darting every which way as he took in the way the great hall was decorated. Great banners hung from the rafters baring the emblem of Nevar, but to Barry's quiet surprise and warmth, several banner's also bore the sunburst emblem of Central Kingdom as well. There were deep purple, blue, and white flowers everywhere along with gold and silver candelabras standing tall and illuminating the hall. Everything was simply superb and so new and exciting since it was the first time Barry was experiencing it.

Once they all reached the dais where a large ornate throne stood with two similar but slightly smaller thrones flanking it on either side, Cisco, Ronnie, and Caitlyn all stepped aside to stand on the marble steps of the dais while Len, Barry, and Lisa all stood in front of their respective thrones and faced the large crowd. On the other side of the dais, Lord Harrison Wells stood on the first step dressed in fine robes of deep green, a refreshing sight from his usual all black ensemble. The other advisors stood in a crowd at the head of the crowd, they too dressed in finery instead of their usual black robes. On the step just below the one Harrison was standing on, Mark Mardon stood in gleaming silver armor with a bright indigo hued cape at his back that bore the Nevarian emblem in beautiful silver thread. His now longer hair was lightly slicked back and his usually stubble covered cheeks were clean shaven, while a neat, light beard graced his upper lip and chin. He cleaned up well if the many appreciative looks he was getting from women and men alike were anything to go on.

Len took a deep breath and addressed the crowd that stood in respectful silence.

" I'll keep this short, so I bid you all good evening and welcome on this solstice night, for long had been the tradition of this kingdom to hold a ball in celebration. Let they be merriment, good cheer, even more so now that this is the first time that Prince Bartholomew and I are sharing in these festivities together. Let's all have a good time, and no worries, their is a veritable army of attendants should a whole bunch of you get well and truly sloshed."

Len's unexpected cheekiness sent ripples of laughter and applause through the entire crowd, while Barry grinned brightly at his husband. When things had quoted down bit, Len finished.

" Thank you one and all, now let the celebrations commence." He said simply, gesturing for the festive music to start back up again. Some of the servants rushed forward and made quick work of rolling up the great blue carpet so that the floor was free and clear.

The entire crowd that filled the hall finally let go of the formalities, breaking rank and meshing together around the hall, going back to mingling while the vibrant music started up again from the small orchestra that sat a few feet from the royals against the side wall of the hall.

Len, Barry, and Lisa sat in their thrones, accepting well wishes from friends and acquaintances from the rather long cue that had formed. When Roscoe Dillon came forward to greet them, Len, Barry, and Lisa were a little surprised to see that Lord James Jesse was not glued to Dillon's hip like they expected.

" Greetings your majesties, and happy Solstice night." Lord Dillon said warmly with a bow. Len and Barry nodded, accepting the greeting graciously, while Lisa quietly looked like she wanted to pummel Dillon into pulp. The three of them had not forgotten what Dillon and Jesse's cruel gossiping had caused, and could have caused. Putting on a pleasant expression and clasping Barry's hand firmly, Len spoke.

" Happy Solstice night to you as well Lord Dillon, how are things?" He asked, all the while a part of him wanted to grab the good Lord Dillon by the scruff of the neck and toss his smarmy ass over the tallest ramparts of the castle.

But then Dillon's face morphed into this brilliant, happy smile that lit up the man's face so much that even Len and Barry had to admit that radiant joy was definitely a good look on the Lord.

" Oh your majesties, I couldn't be more proud and happy. I am to be a grandfather! My dear son Neyle and his wife Rose surprised me yesterday while we were having lunch with this wonderful news!" Dillon said with a grin, almost bouncing with happiness.

Before he could help himself, Len found his plastered on smile turning into a real one, while Barry grinned brightly beside him. Even Lisa, who had been giving Dillon a subtle stink-eye was now reluctantly smiling.

" That is wonderful news Lord Dillon, I get the feeling you'll be that kind of grandfather who will make sure that baby will want for nothing." Barry said with a warm smile.

Len, Barry, and Lisa were all pleasantly stunned when they watched Dillon duck his head and smile coyly at the praise, having never seen the Lord so humble and quiet.

" Thank you my Prince, I hope I can be the best grandfather possible." Dillon said, and the royals could tell that he meant every word. It was Lisa who finally brought up the quiet pink elephant in the room.

" My Lord Dillon, where is Lord James Jesse?" She asked, making a show of looking around. "I was expecting him to be by your side like he usually is."

They were all intrigued when they watched as Dillon's happy expression morphed into a sour and slightly disgusted look as he sighed and shook his head.

" I heard through the grapevine that he wasn't feeling so well and decided not to attend tonight's festivities. Don't really know what Lord Jesse is up to these days." Dillon replied with a shrug.

" Oh, why's that?" Barry asked. " If you don't mind me asking Lord Dillon." He added, his curiosity peaked.

" Not at all my Prince. We all know the Lord Jesse has a penchant for gossiping, and for a long time it was just that, harmless gossiping." Dillon began before he sighed and shook his head sadly.

" Then it stopped being funny and entered the realm of nastiness and like you wouldn't believe and I am not comfortable repeating. Let's just say that the Lord Jesse took things a bit too far one day when he made a rather disparaging and abrasive remark regarding Lord Samuel Scudder and the misfortunes that have been befalling his livestock as of late. I could not stand it any longer and confronted the Lord Jesse. Some unpleasant words were exchanged, things you can never go back from, and I cut all ties with Lord Jesse other than what good politeness at social gatherings require." Dillon said before he let out a self-depricating huff.

" Looking back now, I feel like such an ass for ever thinking that friendship with someone like Lord Jesse could lead to anything good. And besides that, I... I'd like to be a better man for the little one who will be coming into this world in a few months." Dillon said with a shake of his head and an apologetic smile towards the royals.

Lisa finally allowed herself to smiling fulling in approval, while Len and Barry gazed at Dillon thoughtfully. While they had held both Jesse and Dillon responsible for the near implosion of their marriage, seeing how humble and sincere Dillon was being before them had them both giving up their resentment towards him. He seemed so much lighter and pleasant now that he was free of the dark pall that Lord Jesse and all of his nastiness had been casting over him for so long. Taking in a deep breath and feeling lighter himself, Len spoke.

" Lord Dillon, it pleases me greatly to see that you have so many good things happening in your life. I have every confidence that you will be a most wonderful grandfather. I am also happy to see that you have made such improvements as to cut out negative influences. Now go and enjoy yourself and congratulations again for your coming grandchild."

" Congratulations Lord Dillon." Barry added with a warm smile, while Lisa nodded.

" Your most gracious Majesties, I thank you." Dillon said with a deep bow before he took his leave.

" Well that was unexpected." Barry said while Len chuckled beside him.

" You're telling me, guess nastiness only gets you loneliness in the end." Lisa said with a small laugh of her own, her grin widening when she caught Cisco's eye where he stood beside Barry's throne.

Before they could all dwell on the complete change of Lord Dillon, the next well-wisher on the line stepped forward. Thankfully after a few well-wishers, Len was able to flag down one of the many servants who were walking about with serving trays laden with either food or drink. Much to his glee, this servant's trays were filled with grilled chicken skewers and honey dijon sauce. Len quickly took three and handed the other two to Barry and Lisa respectively. There was no denying that they were all a bit hungry at this point, and dinner would not be for another hour.

Len turned to Barry and leaned in to give his husband a kiss before he spoke.

" Will you do me the honor of a dance my Prince?" He asked.

" Of course my King." Barry replied softly as he took Len's hand and the royal couple rose from their thrones and stepped down from the dais.

" A waltz." Len called to the orchestra as the crowd smoothly parted for the King and Prince Consort of Nevar.

Barry and Len stood on the center of the floor and held each other in the proper position for a waltz, Barry with his hand on Len's shoulder, and Len with his arm wrapped around Barry's waist, while their remaining hands were clasped together. Unlike their first waltz during their wedding reception where the walls were up and Len had held himself stiffly, now there was a relaxedness to them both as the music started playing and they moved together as one.

They only had eyes for each other as they circled around the dance floor, perfectly united and smiling. All around them the crowd could not help but admire their King and Prince Consort, both men handsome in their regalia and with their marital happiness on full display.

However, not all of the eyes that were on the royal couple were so admiring, among them a pair of black, hooded eyes watched Len and Barry with only mild interest. George "Digger" Harkness watched the royal couple, with his eyes mainly focusing on Barry. He had to admit that the Prince Consort of Nevar was indeed a very attractive young man, but a job was a job, and his job was to make sure that tonight would be the good prince's last night on this Earth.

Harkness blended into the background since he was dressed in a servant's uniform that he had conveniently 'borrowed' from a young man while he had been laying in wait in the wine cellar, providing him the perfect cover to observe his target. Like King Leonard had said, there was a veritable army of servants working tonight at this ball, so everyone was a bit too busy to notice an extra, unfamiliar face. Harkness had snuck into the palace by simply rolling into the palace's delivery bay, hiding in one of the many wine barrels that had been brought in for the party. He was a professional after all, one of the best in the business of covert killing. As to how he had procured the uniform he was wearing, he had unfolded himself from his hiding place within the barrel and waited for a servant that roughly matched his size, when a young man fitting the bill came in, Harkness had been quick to drag the poor lad into the shadows the cellar provided. Before the lad could even cry out, his neck was snapped like a twig, his body stripped of its clothes, and then stuffed into the wine barrel and tucked away in a corner with no one the wiser.

Harkness went about serving appetizers like the rest of the servants, smiling pleasantly enough and always keeping an eye on Barry, waiting for the right opportunity to present himself. Tonight would be a long night after all, the Prince Consort was bound to get a little parched. The small glass vial of dark, reddish liquid he had been given by his employer to carry out his task was tucked safely in his breast pocket. If there was one thing that Digger Harkness was besides being a cold-blooded killer, it was that he was patient.

Barry and Len did one final circle around the floor before they ended up back in the center of the room, just as the music came to a peaceful end. The hall erupted into thunderous applause, many calling for an encore. Barry and Len both bowed and laughed at the enthusiasm of their subjects before Len spoke loudly.

" Come on, the floor's open to everyone." He proclaimed. The crowd needed no further prompting as more couples joined Barry and Len for another waltz. The royal couple spun together in the center while everyone danced around them.

Lisa smiled from where she still sat on her throne, absolutely thrilled to see her big brother and new brother having a good time, but she looked up when someone lightly cleared their throat. Her striking blue eyes met the deep, dark chocolate brown eyes of Cisco Ramon.

" My princess, would allow me a dance?" He asked, looking only a little bit nervous as he smiled and held out his hand. Lisa found herself smiling back radiantly as she accepted the offered hand and together they walked down the steps of the dais onto the main floor.

The crowd of those not dancing parted for Lisa and Cisco, many people staring at them in surprise. From where he stood, Mark Mardon smiled knowingly at the sight of Cisco and Princess Lisa walking hand in hand and then smoothly waltzing into the center of the ring, joining Len and Barry. While many were a bit surprised to see Lisa dancing with Cisco, they didn't really think too much of it seeing as to how Cisco was Barry's right hand man. They wrote it off as nothing more than Cisco asking Lisa for the honor of dancing with her as the gentleman he was. Len for his part put on a brilliant show of being surprised to see Lisa and Cisco dancing together, while Barry did his best not to laugh at it all. He also felt proud of Cisco for gathering his courage in dancing with Lisa right beside him and Len.

Len himself was pleased to see Lisa and Cisco together out in the open, and while he was eagerly awaiting for the moment when Cisco would ask for his permission to marry Lisa, the king took a moment to simply gaze upon his baby sister just looking so happy.

" They look really happy Len." Barry said with a small, contented smile.

" Yeah they really do, so how about you and I make them sweat a little?" Len asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes and a smirk curving up the corner of his lips.

Barry's own eyes swirled with mischief as he leaned in an pressed a kiss to his husband's lips, the two of them sharing a moment together. When they drew back, they stayed close, mere inches separating them as Barry spoke.

" What do you have in mind my husband?" He asked with a grin.

" A switch in partners when the next waltz starts up." Len said as he glanced at Lisa and Cisco. Barry found himself giggling as he caught on to what Len had in mind.

" I take Lisa, you take Cisco?" Barry asked with a brilliant grin. Len chuckled and nodded in confirmation.

The continued to dance and had a grand time, but when the music ended and everyone started clapping, Len and Barry shared a look before they both made their way across the floor towards the other couple in the center.

While Barry smoothly pulled Lisa into his arms, Cisco gasped and stared up with wide eyes as he suddenly found himself in the arms of the King of Nevar. Before Cisco could do anything, the music started up again.

" Holy crap." Cisco whispered as he quickly moved in step with Len.

There was rumbling chuckle through the crowd at the impromptu switch of dance partners and the significant height difference between Len and Cisco, but mostly everyone was happy to see their King's good humor.

" Relax kid, it's just a dance." Len said smoothly as he smiled at his nervous dance partner.

" Y-Yes your Majesty." Cisco stuttered out while his cheeks flushed bright red. Out of everything Cisco was expecting on this night, waltzing with the king he served had not been among them.

But as the minutes passed, Cisco found himself relaxing a bit and totally investing in the dance with Len.

From where they were waltzing together, Lisa kept glancing at Len and Cisco while Barry just smiled.

" Relax Sis, their just dancing." Barry assured, Lisa just snorted and rolled her eyes.

" Or maybe Big brother is quietly terrorizing my Cisco into dropping everything and running as fast as he can back to Central." She said flatly, and looking worried.

Barry just pulled her in closer and gave her a reassuring look.

" No he's not and besides that look, Cisco's smiling." Barry said as he eyes his husband and best friend.

Back with Cisco and Len, the younger man smiled shyly as he danced with the king.

" So Cisco, how are you liking your first Winter Solstice Ball so far?" Len asked.

" Pretty awesome party, though I never thought I'd get to dance with the King of Nevar, that's for sure." Cisco said before he grew nervous.

" N-Not that I mind or anything." He added quickly, feeling his face heat up in mortification.

" Good to know." Len said simply, thoroughly enjoying making Cisco squirm. He was looking forward to making Cisco sweat some more once the younger man decided it was time to declare his intentions regarding Lisa. Deciding to have some more fun, Len pinned Cisco with a look as he spoke.

" It was nice of you to ask her for her first dance tonight." He said lightly, all the while watching Cisco's ears turn bright red. Cisco swallowed thickly before he forced himself to speak.

" Well her Highness is the most beautiful woman in all of Nevar, I figured I'd take a chance before the line got too long." He said honestly. Len eyed Cisco warmly, his smirk turning into a genuine smile as he spoke.

" Good answer." The King said simply as he continued to lead Cisco around in the circles of the waltz.

Cisco for his part felt his heart pounding inside his chest, the nerves tingling with excitement and perhaps a little trepidation. For all he knew this was the quiet before the the storm, before all Hell would break loose. After all, Cisco didn't know that Len had caught him and Lisa on one occasion, and that he was already okay with their union, the Marquis was expecting complete bedlam and a very, very angry Leonard Snart in his near future. But despite his nerves, Cisco couldn't help but marvel at the quiet strength and grace he could feel from Len, and that the King was a really good dancer who was going at a pace that Cisco could easily keep up with as they twirled across the dance floor. It didn't feel all that awkward at all really, okay maybe a little awkward seeing as to how Cisco still found Len, with his steely blue eyes, to be quietly intimidating. It was offset now by the fact that the King had a pleased and amused smile on his face, and Cisco had seen many times just how warm and good a man Len was.

From where they danced, Barry kept chuckling while Lisa gave him a mock glare, all four of them blissfully unaware of the dark eyes of Harkness and his evil intent as he watched on in the background.

Inevitably, the waltz came to a smooth end with both pairs meeting up in the center of the floor and coming to stand in a straight line, Barry holding Lisa's hand and Len holding Cisco. As one they all bowed or in Lisa's case curtsied, while the crowd and other pairs of dancers all erupted into enthusiastic applause. Barry and Lisa both turned to Len and Cisco, Lisa pouncing on her brother while Barry held up his hands in a placating gesture at Cisco while the Marquis informed him of just how terrifying Barry and Len's little stunt had been. But the best friends were hugging it out a few moments later.

Barry and Len left Cisco and Lisa to some more dancing while they headed back towards the dais, smiling at they passed Caitlyn and Ronnie who were making their way to the floor to join in. Soon the music shifted from waltzing to a more fast and upbeat tune perfect for something less formal.

Barry and Len were soon buffeted by more well-wishers and mingled with their subjects, taking off their formal crowns and swords and handing them off to the awaiting servants. Barry smiled and laughed as one of Len's advisors regaled the royal couple with a hilarious tale of his baby boy's antics, how the toddler had discovered the family cat and proceeded to chew on the animal's tail much to the chagrin of the cat but the mirth of his parents.

Some movement at his side had Barry turning to see a servant with dark eyes smiling pleasantly at him as the man held out a tray of crystal glasses of what looked to be punch.

" Some refreshment your majesties?" The man asked respectfully.

Barry and Len both smiled as they each picked up a glass and gave the servant their thanks. Barry brought the drink to his lips and took a sip. It tasted very good, of strawberries with a hint of pears, and a slight kick of alcohol.

From where he stood several feet away still serving appetizers, Harkness lamented the opportunity he had just missed out on, but he was not overly disappointed. The night was young after all, and dinner had yet to be served. His orders were to go after Prince Bartholomew Henry Allen only, because Harkness' employer wanted King Leonard to enjoy the loss of a second husband, so Harkness vowed that once dinner was served, he would be the one to pour the young prince his wine, with a special ingredient added that would give Prince Bartholomew a nice kick, straight into the afterlife.

With this in mind, Harkness kept on serving guests, and also keeping an eye on his target. Time inevitably moved forward and soon it was indeed time for the feast. The crowds gave way as several servants wheeled in the long tables and the head table where the royals would sit. Once the tables were situated and covered in linens, everyone watched as several side doors to the hall swung open and lines of servants streamed into the Great Hall baring trays in their hands or wheeling them in, all laden with the best the royal kitchen had to offer. By the end of it, the head table where the royals were to sit overlooked three massive long tables that stretched almost a third of the way down the length of the Great Hall.

Len sent Barry a knowing look with a quirked eyebrow where they were, to which Barry lightly punched Len in the shoulder before they were both chuckling. Barry reached out and took Len's hand into his own, the king squeezing back firmly as they shared a moment together. But they were soon rising from their thrones, for they knew that everyone was truly hungry at this point, as they were themselves, but no one was allowed to sit down until the royals had taken their seats.

Walking hand in hand, and with Lisa beside Len, the royals made their way towards the head table. The three large chairs were pulled back the Ronnie, Cisco, and Caitlyn respectively. As one the three royals took their seats before Len gestured to the hall.

" Be seated all." the King commanded.

Everyone bowed and proceeded to take their seats at the grand long tables. No one reached for the food just yet, all eyes turning to Len raised his goblet of wine and spoke.

" A toast, to another Winter Solstice Ball enjoyed by all, especially the newest additions to the kingdom, Prince Bartholomew my husband, and Marquis Ramon." Len proclaimed, while Barry and Cisco both flushed at the complement and nodded as they raised their own goblets.

Again, from where he stood Harkness lightly lamented another chance lost as he watched Barry drink from his untainted goblet, but no matter, the Prince would be in need of a refill sooner or later, or Harkness could simply manipulate the situation so that the good Prince would need his goblet replaced, either way, he would get the task done. Everyone drank to the toast and soon the Great hall was filled with lively conversation and people enjoying the feast. At the head table Len found himself smiling as he discreetly eyed his husband, who had piled his plate high was digging in to the variety of roasted meats, grilled vegetables, and other items such as savory pastries with gusto.

 _" There's my bottomless pit."_ Len though with a smile before he got started on his own plate.

From where he sat at Barry's other side, Cisco picked at his dinner, casting discreet and worried glances at Lisa whenever Len leaned forward while eating. Barry noticed this and reached out to his best friend, giving Cisco's wrist a reassuring squeeze as he leaned in and spoke so only Cisco could hear him over the din of the Ball.

" Dude, it's gonna be alright, just go for it." Barry said with a smile.

" Easier said than done my Prince, it's one thing that he's a King, but he's also a big brother. I am about to ask him for his baby sister's hand. What if he doesn't approve, I am just a Marquis after all." Cisco said quietly with a shake of his head.

It pained Barry to see his friend so uncertain and not seeing himself for the wonderful and good guys that he was. With a sigh, Barry took a sip from his goblet, still blissfully unaware of the assassin watching him. Harkness went about keeping of the ruse of being a simple servant, though he stayed close to the head table, all the while keeping the Prince Consort in the corner of eyes, paying particular attention to every time Barry took a drink from his goblet.

About ten minutes later, Harkness saw his chance approaching. Moving swiftly, the assassin made his way to one of the many small tables by the far wall that was laden with dozens of large glass pitchers of various wines and other beverages. Harkness snatched up a pitcher of deep red wine and made his way over to the head table. He didn't make a B-line straight for Barry, instead going about serving others at the table first, like Harrison and Ronnie, using slight of hand to take out the small glass vial his employer had given him, hiding it in his hand before he finally came to stand behind Barry.

Wordlessly, Harkness hid the vial against the spout of the pitcher, tipping some of the vial's dark, blackish red contents out into the stream of wine that flowed from the pitcher as he refilled Barry's goblet.

" Thank you." Barry said with a warm smile at the service, to which Harkness smiled back and bowed lightly before he walked away. Barry couldn't help but notice that he had never seen this particular servant before, and he had a distincting crooked nose, but Barry shrugged it off thinking that he was probably just a temporary hire to take care of the massive amount of service this Ball required. Harkness took a subtle look at the vial in his hand, satisfied to see that half of its contents were gone. His employer had told him that the poison was so powerful that few drops were strong enough to kill an ox, so a skinny young boy would be no match. His employer had gone so far as to give him a demonstration. The test subject had been a poor, innocent cow, and Harkness could still remember how the thing had been force-fed some of the stuff, leading to the cow to start coughing up blood and then falling to the ground and writhing in agony. Harkness had not stayed for the end result, but his employer had gleefully informed him that he had made sure the suffered was one that could be prolonged for days if he wanted, and that despite how deadly it was, the poison had no effect if it came into contact with skin. Only through ingesting it could the poison carry out its purpose. That had assured Harkness at least, for he would be handling the liquid death. With how much that was now expended from the vial and mingling with Barry's wine, Harkness was certain that he had just poured the Prince Consort a very, very torturous death in a cup. Now he would simply stand back and watch.

Barry laughed at something Mark said from beside Cisco and reached for his wine goblet. Harkness watched with bated breath as the Prince wrapped his hand around the cut, ready to raise it to his lips, but then at the last second, King Leonard held out his own goblet to Barry with a knowing smile. Harkness watched with quiet disgust as Barry returned the smile and let go of his own, secretly poisoned wine, and took the offered goblet from his husband, sipping from it instead. Harkness kept his cool though and waited to see what would happen next. Much to the assassin's ire, Barry kept sharing Len's goblet instead of drinking from his own. Curse them both for being so disgustingly in love.

At the head table, Cisco shared a look with Lisa while Len and Barry were taking quietly to each other, giving the princess a nod, to which she gave him a soft wink and a smile.

Len and Barry broke from their conversation and Len started talking to Lisa and Harrison on the other side. Cisco turned to Barry and spoke.

" Ok, I am gonna do it." He declared, feeling his heart starting to pound with nervousness. Barry grinned at his best friend and reached for his goblet once more. Harkness watched on like a hawk, allowing a small grin to spread across his face, thinking that Barry would finally drink.

Back at the head table, Barry had just raised his goblet, ready to bring it to his lips when Cisco caught sight of it.

" Mind if I take a swig for courage?" Cisco asked as he gestured to Barry's goblet.

" Knock yourself out." Barry said as he casually handed the goblet over to his best friend.

" Oh shit." Harkness said to himself the self-satisfied grin falling off his face as he watched Cisco take a big gulp of Barry's wine. The assassin then watched in silent chagrin as Cisco rose to his feet while Barry set his goblet back down, forgetting about drinking from it as he watched is friend make his way around.

It was time to leave, Harkness deemed as he turned and swiftly made his way to one of the side doors that led to the kitchens. In a few moments chaos would still break out, just involving someone other than his intended target. It was time he cut his losses and made his exit. Harkness was making his way down the steps the corridor, about halfway there to the kitchens when sharp, terrified screams and cries of shock from behind him in the great hall caught his ears .

" Fuck!" Harkness growled before he hastened his pace, keeping calm as he enter the kitchens and blended into the chaos. Harkness made his way out to the delivery bay and saw that while wagons of supplies were still entering, wagons loaded with garbage and empty wine barrels were lines up and headed out of the castle. Using the stealth he had gained through his many years as an assassin, Harkness used the shadows to avoid as many people as possible before he smoothly rolled under one of the wagons and held on, waiting patiently for the wagon to start moving. Once it did, Harkness hung on and simply waited for the wagon to roll out of the palace with him clinging to it's undercarriage with no one the wiser of him ever being there.

 _A few minutes earlier..._

Cisco could not believe what he was about to do, and he also winced slightly at the bitter aftertaste the wine he had just sipped left on his tongue, it was why he hardly every drank alcohol to begin with. Taking a deep breath, Cisco stood before the head table, the hall falling somewhat silent as all eyes turned to the young Marquis.

" Y-Your Majesty." Cisco began, forcing himself to speak loudly and meet Len's intense blue eyed gaze.

" Yes Marquis Ramon." Len acknowledged, all the while feeling glee that the moment was finally upon them.

" I come before you humble and with no false pretenses to ask something of you." Cisco said, all the while ignoring the dull ache that had started up in his stomach.

" What have you come to ask of me, Marquis Ramon?" Len asked as he eyed Cisco intently.

Cisco took in a deep breath and forced himself to just say it already.

" My King, I humbly ask your permission to take the hand of the most beautiful woman in all of Nevar in the bonds of marriage, her Highness Princess Lisa!"

There were stunned gasps throughout the room, while Barry let out a small, breathless laugh. Len himself was doing his best to keep a smile from spreading across his face. Harrison was gawking at Cisco while Mark had a knowing grin on his face.

Most importantly however, Lisa was looking upon Cisco with pride shining in her eyes. Keeping a stern look on his face, Len held up his hand. The hall immediately grew silent and all eyes watched as Len quietly stood up and made his way around the head table so that he and Cisco were now standing face to face. Pinning Cisco with those steel-blue eyes of his, Len crossed crossed his arms and spoke.

" That's my baby sister's hand you're asking for. Are you devoted to her, or merely infatuated?" Len asked with a hard voice, secretly proud when Cisco stood up straighter and looked in square in the eye instead of averting his gaze or backing away.

" I am devoted your Majesty, mind, body, and soul." Cisco said firmly, while his dark eyes went to Lisa, who had tears gathering in her eyes.

" What makes you think I'll just hand her over to you like chattel?" Len challenged, all the while Barry was doing his best not to laugh as he watched the epic face-off between the King of Nevar and the Marquis from Central Kingdom.

Cisco for his part frowned as the back of his throat started to burn a little, but he chalked it up to the spicy venison he had just eaten as he took a deep breath and spoke.

" I am not asking you to hand her Highness over to me because she's not chattel." Cisco said with seriousness, and his words earned a few murmurs of approval from the crowd, while Len felt warm fondness swell up in his heart as he eyed Cisco. Cisco then continued.

" She is the most wonderful, amazing, and awesome person here besides you, and his Highness Prince Bartholomew. I ask you for her hand in marriage because besides being a king, you're her brother first, and I know that you would only want her to be with someone who treats her not just as the Princess that she is, but as the gift to this world she is too." Cisco finished, clearing his throat lightly as the burning grew a bit stronger, before he sent Lisa a smile as she let out a tearful laugh and wiped at her eyes. Barry felt his own eyes burn a little as he got up and made his way over to Lisa, standing beside her with his hand on her shoulder as he proudly watched on.

Len took a moment to glance around the room, and he was a bit stunned, but no less pleased as he caught sight of several people, both men and women who looked al title misty-eyed and were sending Cisco looks of quiet admiration and respect, when before people were gazing at Cisco like he had well and truly lost his mind. Len turned his eyes back to Cisco, gazing at him and seeing his sincerity before he spoke.

" Are you that someone?" He asked gravely. Cisco stood up straighter, feeling all fear leave him, but with his stomach still aching for some reason, he still ignored it as he spoke.

" Yes your Majesty, I know I am." He said firmly before he smiled and looked to Lisa.

" I am her highness' already, it is up to her whether she'll have me or- OH GOD!" Cisco yelled as a monstrous pain suddenly ripped through his gut and chest.

With a groan, Cisco doubled over. Shock spread through the entire hall, Len dropping all pretense as he rushed forward.

" Cisco?" He yelled as he gripped the distressed younger man by the shoulders.

Agonized dark eyes looked up at Len while Lisa and Barry rushed around the head table to get to the King and Marquis.

" M-My King, L-Len." Cisco choked out before he let out this strangled gurgle.

Len cried out as a fountain of bright crimson suddenly erupted from Cisco's mouth.

Blood, dark crimson blood.

" Cisco!" Barry shouted while Lisa screamed, the two of them rushing to Cisco and Len just as the younger man's knees suddenly gave out on him. Len, Barry, and Lisa, along with those who could see what was happening all watched in horror as Cisco coughed up more blood as Len sank to his knees, cradling Cisco in his arms. The now terrified and confused King shouted without taking his eyes off of the young man bleeding rivers of blood from his nose and mouth.

" Harrison!" Len screamed.

Harrison all but flew around the head table to get to Len and Cisco, and he swore when he saw the state of his young apprentice. Harrison knelt beside Len and Cisco and went into healer mode. He made his assessment quickly and looked into the frantic eyes of his king. Around then Caitlyn, Ronnie, and Mark joined them, all of them watching in horror at the state Cisco was in.

" We need to get him to Healing Wing _now_ , I suspect he's been poisoned." Harrison said in all seriousness.

" Cisco!" Lisa screamed as she tried to get to him, but Barry held her back.

" Len take him quick!" Barry shouted.

Len needed no further prompting as he hoisted Cisco over his shoulder and stood. Then he was off running as fast as he could down the length of the hall, with Harrison following in his wake. Cisco was gurgling and groaning as he hung limp over Len's shoulder, his eyes rolling dangerously.

" All of you go!" Barry shouted as he let go of Lisa. Lisa sobbed as she ran after Len and Harrison, Ronnie and Caitlyn following suit. Len and Harrison raced through a side door that led out to the main hall, Lisa, Caitlyn, and Ronnie following after them.

A stunned looking Mark was about to follow when Barry turned hard hazel green eyes on him,

" Mark!" Barry shouted amidst the panicked din of the crowd.

" My Prince!" Mark yelled as he stepped forward.

Never before had Mark seen Barry so angry, but beneath it the general could see the cold terror as the Prince Consort spoke.

" Lock this place down, no one enters or exits unless they show signs of poisoning, then you get then to the Healing wing!" Barry ordered loudly, many people stunned at hearing him raise his voice for the first time, before he continued.

" And no one touches or disturbs anything, it's all the scene of a crime now!"

" Your will my Prince." Mark nodded gravely before Barry took off running, his long legs carrying him swiftly down the length of the hall and through the side door the others had gone through. In his wake the great hall filled with more guards as Mark shouted for order and for all of the exits to be sealed and guarded.

Outside in the Hall, Barry ran as fast as he could, catching up with Ronnie, Caitlyn, and Lisa as they all turned a corner and careened towards the arched doorway of the Healing Wing. Once they were inside the wing they all rushed towards the private wing, which was closest to Harrison's office and the apothecary. Just as they were about to enter, Harrison came running back out and dashed past them into the apothecary.

Barry and the others all entered the private wing, the Prince gasping at the nightmarish scene before him.

Len had deposited Cisco onto a cot and was using a kerchief to wipe at the blood that was staining the lower half of the young man's face.

" Cisco!" Lisa shouted as he ran forward and placed her hands over Cisco's chest, tears gushing from her eyes as she watched Cisco writhe in pure agony.

" L-Lisa." Cisco choked out as he stared up at the Princess with tearful and pained eyes before he groaned.

" I-It hurts."

" I know Cisco, just hold on, you fight damn it!" Len urged as he continued to wipe at the blood that was spilling from the corners of the young man's mouth.

" What the hell is going on?" Barry shouted just as Harrison came running back into the room with a blood needle in one hand, and a beaker of pale purple liquid in the other.

" Everyone stand aside and let me work!" Harrison wondered sternly. He then turned to Barry.

" Barry, help me get a blood sample from him quickly." He said sternly.

Barry forgot his terror and moved with Harrison, the both of them looming over Cisco as Barry reached down and tore off the sleeve of Cisco's Tudor jacket all together, tossing it aside and holding his agonized friend's arm still while Harrison quickly felt for a vein and used the blood needle. The needle's glass cylinder filled with Cisco's blood, and everyone could see that something was clearly wrong. Instead of a deep red, Cisco's blood came out looking almost all the way black, clear sign of just how nasty whatever poison was used was.

" Barry, we have to get him to drink this. Whatever poison this is, it is unlike anything I've ever seen, but this Haliper tonic counteracts most every poison we know, it is our best shot." Harrison said.

Barry nodded before he reached out to Cisco, taking his best friend's face into his hands.

" Cisco? Cisco!" Barry called.

Despite the pain he was in, Cisco took a deep, rattling breath and groaned as he focused his tearful eyes on Barry.

Barry forced himself to shove the fear away and instead keep himself together as he spoke.

" Cisco, you remember what Haliper juice is right?" Barry asked, waiting for Cisco to nod before the injured young man spoke.

" H-Help... p-poison." Cisco choked out.

" Y-Yeah, that's right, well you have to drink some now so just relax even though I know it hurts." Barry said before he looped his arm under Cisco's neck and gently pulled his best friend into a sitting position.

Cisco groaned but otherwise held still as Harrison quickly brought the beaker to his apprentice's bloodied lips.

Len made his way to Lisa and took his sobbing sister in his arms as they all watched in pained silence as Cisco swallowed down the Haliper juice, and most likely his own blood. When Harrison had deemed that Cisco had taken enough of the juice, he drew away and nodded to Barry who gently lowered Cisco back down onto the bed where Cisco writhed quietly for a few minutes before he still. There was a moment of sheer panic until they all saw the steady rise and fall of his chest and heard his labored breaths. He had only passed out, but it was a little comfort to them.

Harrison then turned to Len, Lisa, Ronnie, and Caitlyn and spoke.

" My King, I think it would be best if all of you went to the main ward for a moment while Barry and I make him more comfortable. It's going to take some time to see if the Haliper's working or not." He said quietly, while Barry just looked at Len with pained eyes and clenched jaw.

Len nodded wordlessly while he all but dragged a crying Lisa away, a tearful Caitlyn and shell-shocked looking Ronnie following after the royal siblings. Harrison and Barry then got to work on divesting Cisco of his bloodied garments and into a simple white sleeping shirt and pants from the stock of clothes reserved for patients. Tears silently carved their way down Barry's face as he tucked the sheets over Cisco, his usually vibrant friend's now pale, almost gray face, the darkened red that stained his lips and chin standing out starkly. Barry looked to the bedside table were a bowl of water and towels were and quickly wet one, using it to gently clean as much of the blood away from Cisco's face and neck just like Len had been doing earlier. He also used it to wipe at the dried blood that stained his hands as well, feeling his skin crawl at the feel of it, and the realization that it was his best friend's blood.

Harrison took a moment to compose himself, this ordeal having shaken him to his very core before he straightened up his spine and made his way over to Barry.

" Harrison, why did this happen? Who could've done this?" Barry asked with a sob as he looked up at Harrison. Harrison just shook his head and gripped Barry's shoulder tightly.

" I don't know my Prince, tonight was supposed to be the celebration of the Solstice, you and Cisco's first one with us here. I don't know how or why, but I swear, I will not rest until I find out." Harrison said with cold fury written across every line of his face.

He watched as Barry's eyes hardened as well as stood up and wiped away the tears on his face.

" Neither will I Lord Wells. You have Cisco's blood, best get to testing. There is a chance the Haliper may not work fully, we need to be ready." Barry said with a hard edge to his voice.

Harrison nodded and then headed off towards the apothecary to get the necessary ingredients for testing Cisco's blood, while Barry took one final look at Cisco and headed towards the main wing.

Lisa clung to her brother, sobbing quietly and wondering how things had gone so wrong tonight. Cisco had been facing Len head on, and had declared his intent to marry her, so why, why did this happen? Why was he at death's door?

Len looked up from hugging Lisa when Barry quietly shuffled into the room. Drawing back from Lisa, the siblings rushed forward as one, Lisa speaking first.

" Barry, how is he?" Lisa asked urgently. Barry took deep breath and looked more tired and older than his twenty-six years as he spoke.

" The Haliper juice knocked him out, and the bleeding has stopped for now, at this point we just have to wait and see. Harrison is going to run tests on Cisco's blood, to see if he can break the filter out the poison and then break it down into its components. Right now I just... I don't know Sis." Barry said apologetically.

Lisa just shook her head and threw her arms around Barry, who hugged her back tightly as she sobbed for a few moments.

" You can go and sit with him Sis, keep an eye on him." Barry said quietly as he and Len both stroked her hair.

Lisa drew away with fresh tears running down her face as with a hitched breath the Princess nodded and stepped away, disappearing through the doorway into the private wing.

Barry and Len stood facing each other for a moment, each taking in how wrecked the other looked before they were smashing into each other hard, wrapping each other in a tight embrace. Len could scarcely breath within Barry's arms, but he didn't give a damn as he squeezed Barry back hard enough for the younger man to feel his ribs shift.

" I can't lose him Len, h-he's my best friend." Barry said softly into Len's ear.

" I know Kid, I know. He has to make it, for you, for Lisa, and for me." Len said against Barry's hair as his own eyes filled with tears.

Meanwhile, at an estate at the outskirts of Nevar...

Hartley Rathaway and several other servants all cowered as Lord James Jesse screamed in pure rage. The sounds of heavy destructions soon filled the air before they grew still again, Hartley and the others all watching the door to Lord Jesse's study, where the lord and a late night visitor, a man dressed in black with dark hood eyes and a crooked nose and disappeared to.

Inside the study, Digger Harkness stood as nonchalant as ever while Lord Jesse quivered with rage.

" I told you to poison the little cunt, not the little cunt's best friend!" Lord Jesse shrieked shrilly. Harkness did not so much as blink as he spoke.

" A minor setback and besides that, I told you that poisoning was a messy means that was best done in private, instead of in the middle of a giant ball. The Prince got lucky that his friend grew thirsty before he could take a sip." Harkness said evenly while Jesse just scoffed.

" Can anyone trace this back to me?" Jesse suddenly ask. Harkness just smirked.

" I am untraceable, you know this, it is why you hired me." Jesse's scowl darkened further.

" I am not paying you for a half-assed job Harkness." He said vehemently. Harkness just looked at Jesse coldly before he spoke.

" Oh, I don't plan on leaving without my proper dues, and since it was you who would not allow me my preferred method of dispatching a target, insisting on that fancy poison of yours, I dare say you owe me double."

" You must be fucking joking you piece of-Urgh!" The rest of Jesse's insult was cut off into a choked sputter as a vice-like hand wrapped around his wrinkly throat and squeezed hard enough for the old man to realize the danger he was in.

Beady blue eyes looked up into dark hooded ones as Harkness gripped Jesse by the throat and spoke.

" Make no mistake, when I take a job I follow through, the Prince Consort of Nevar will die by my hand, but it will be after this fiasco has blown over and the chance presents itself. Then the Prince's pretty little throat is as good as slit, by my blade and not your so called 'genius'." Harkness growled before he leaned in close and conned.

" Mark my words, once the task is done, I will have triple the payment, or I will dissect you alive, just like one of your little dungeon experiments. Do you understand, _my lord_."

Lord Jesse could only give a small before Harkness' face curled in disgust and he released him, looking like he wanted to wash his hand as soon as possible. Then with one last cold look, Harkness strode away with his black cloak billowing behind him. He burst through the door, sent the fearful servants a sick grin and a wink before he was out the front door and into the cold night.

Where he stood massaging his throat, Jesse caught his breath before a sick little grin spread across his face as well.

" Oh well, better luck next time." The old Lord said as he started to giggle like the madman he was.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Warning: Sexual content and sensuality in this chapter

Chapter 15

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" Everyone remain calm and focus on me!" Mark Mardon ordered sternly, showcasing just why he was the _Head General_ of Nevar's armies.

Before him the hall of agitated party goers all fell silent and turned eyes to the general. It had been a good forty-five minutes since everything had gone straight to Hell. There had been an initial chaotic confusion as to what just happened, what they had all witnessed. Marquis Ramon had been boldly declaring his intent to court Princess Lisa, and holding his own against King Leonard's scrutiny one moment, and the next moment the young man had been doubling over in agony and coughing up rivers of dark crimson blood.

Poisoned, Lord Wells had said, someone had poisoned the poor young man.

In the ensuring chaos of the royals rushing off to get Cisco immediate medical aid, many in the hall were left to wonder if they too had been poisoned, but thus far no one had doubled over and started choking on their own life-blood, though a few people had felt a bit faint due to panic. True to Prince Bartholomew's orders, everyone was avoiding contact with the tables laden with food, only those to tired or old to stand sitting down on the long table benches while everyone else was milling about in front of the raised dais, talking amongst themselves and wondering just what was going on here, why was Cisco targeted, and who was responsible for such an underhanded act of attempted murder?

Now though, all eyes were on Mark as he spoke.

" I know that everyone wants answers and to go home, but you must all remain calm and await their royal highness' to return. Our Prince Consort's orders were clear, nothing is to be touched, and no one is to leave just yet. Please bear with me." Mark said loudly and earnestly.

His words had the desired effect as the hall rumbled in acknowledgment and acquiescence.

A few moments later, there was a loud, wooden groan and all eyes turned to the great carved doors of the hall, which were creaking and groaning as the opened and slowly swung inward. They fell away to reveal a grim faced King Leonard Snart, with Barry walking stone-faced beside him and Ronnie following dutifully in their wake as they entered the great hall, all of them looking a little less refined, and definitely in no mood for bullshit.

The trio did not barrel straight through the crowd as one would think, instead Len held up a severe hand, signaling for silence while he, Barry, and Ronnie made their way to the raised dais by walking along the side of the crowd. The crowd of nobility, and the crowd of servants who were standing in a corner of the Great hall, all stood in respectful silence as their eyes tracked their King and Prince Consort. Never had they seen Barry so grim and serious, his face pale and hard as he and Len came towards the raised dais where the head table stood untouched.

" Your Majesties." Mark said with a bow to his King and Prince Consort.

Len and Barry's hard eyes both softened at the show of respect from their friend and general, Len nodding to Mark who then stepped off the dais and made his way over to Ronnie, reaching out and giving the Page a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder before they turned their attention fully to the King and Prince Consort of Nevar, along with the rest of the crowd.

Len let his eyes wrack over the crowd, a charged silence falling over the entire hall before the king blinked and then addressed his tensed subjects.

" Is everyone alright? Have any of you been caught in the crosshairs of this attack?" He asked, his voice almost echoing through the hall.

In an instant the tension broke a little, many people breaking out into small smiles and appreciative looks at Len show of concern. There was a chorus of "No you majesties" and "we're alright my King", and other such words of assurance.

Then everyone started talking all at once, many demanding to know what was going on, and how Cisco was fairing. Len allowed the chaos for a few moments before he held up a stern hand. Such was the respect that Leonard commanded that the hall fell silent once more.

" Let me start by informing you that Marquis Ramon is alive. Lord Wells tends to him as we speak and as of right now is condition is stable but critical. Please lend my sister's fiancé your prayers." Len said, causing many in the hall to gape at his words about Cisco being Lisa's intended. But no one made any comment on that and instead nodded or bowed regarding the king's request for prayers for Cisco.

Len then sighed and shook his head.

" As your king I could keep every single one of you here in this hall and have you interrogated as to who tried to murder Marquis Ramon and why anyone would even think to harm someone like him, an innocent." The King said firmly, keeping his voice steady.

Barry almost lost his composure right then and there, but he forced himself to keep his face straight, but his hazel eyes reflected his silent pain and turmoil as Len continued.

" But rest assured, I will not treat any of you thus. In my heart I feel that none of you who stand before me had anything to do with this, that none of you would even dare to think such a thing. But someone is responsible for nearly murdering the man my sister loves, and I will not rest until I find that person. It is with a heavy I declare that all travel to and from Nevar shall be suspended until I say otherwise. This matter is to be thoroughly investigated, and while my instincts tell me that it was not any of you who did this, my instincts are just that, my instincts. I will be calling each and every one of you back to the palace for questioning in the days ahead, so be prepared and wrack you minds regarding every detail of this night, for any information you may have is welcome. As of right now you are all to return to your homes with a pair of soldiers to escort you, they will stan guard at your homes and will report back to me any suspicious activities. Remember my words, for if I find out that any of you are responsible for what has happened on this night, it is not just my wrath you will face, but that of my husband as well." Len finished as all eyes turned to Barry.

Barry stood silent and grim, his expression and his eyes more than enough for the crowd to understand just how serious the royals were. It was clear in Barry's silence that when he found out whoever did this, there would be no mercy shown, no quarter given.

The crowd was deathly silent, the fear tangible in the air as they all waited for their king to dismiss them. Taking in a deep breath, Len spoke.

" You may all return to your homes, but heed my warning." Len said, deadly serious.

Many on the crowd looked honestly terrified, some even trembling visibly or going ghostly pale. As one the crowd bowed or curtsied before their rulers, a quiet chorus of "Yes your majesties", and " Your will my King" sounding through the hallway before the soldiers that had been standing guard came forward and proceeded to escort the nobles as they silently and tensely made their way towards the doors of the Great Hall.

Len watched them go before he turned his attention to the other group that was in the hall, the servants who still stood silent in the corner of the Hall. Many of them did their best not to cower when those steel blue eyes fell upon them. Barry followed his husband's gaze and turned to eye the servants as well, feeling a phantom pain lance through him.

He could not believe what was happening right now. His best friend lay in the Healing Wing fighting for his life, what was supposed to be one of the happiest moments of Lisa's life had instead turned into one of terror and heartbreak, and Len and himself were now in a position where they would now have to root out the evil person responsible for all of this from amidst their innocent and loyal subjects. Hell, it was even possible that there was a larger conspiracy going on.

They were now in that Hellish place where everything was up in the air, no one knew what to do next, and there was only question after question with no solution in sight.

Barry watched the servants as Len addressed them, asking them to all come forward and stand before them. As he did so the Prince Consort's eyes happened to fall on the head table, that stood undisturbed like Barry had ordered, laden with platters of food and the plates and goblets from which Barry, Len, and their family had been eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves not even an hour ago.

Barry let his eyes wander over the places at the table, remembering where everyone had been sitting. The three ornate, throne like chairs had been where he, Len, and Lisa had been sitting respectively. Cisco had been sitting in the seat next to Barry, on the Prince's left side. Barry felt his heart lurch as the memories of earlier bombarded him, how they had been enjoying the food and talking with each other, Barry smiling every time Cisco and Lisa had shared a look across at each other whenever Len had leaned forward while he had been eating.

Barry's eyes then happened to fall on the goblets from which everyone had been drinking. While the goblets that he, Len, and Lisa had been drinking from where ornate, ceremonial ones made of gold and bejeweled with various gems, the rest of the people who had been honored to sit at the head table had been drinking from goblets of carved copper and a lighter jeweled pattern to fit with the decor. Barry's eyes darted from his ornate, jeweled goblet to Cisco's simpler, but similar one. The memories of earlier that night continued to play out in Barry's mind, still starkly fresh. As he remembered the moments just before Cisco had gotten up to stand before Leonard and ask for Lisa's hand, Barry felt his entire body go cold as he remembered how Cisco had taken an innocent sip of wine for courage from his best friend's goblet before he had gotten up.

With his eyes widening, and the bottom dropping out of his stomach, Barry slowly stepped forward, his eyes glued to the two goblets standing unassumingly about an arm's length apart from each other on the head table amidst the abandoned food and cutlery.

" Barry?" Len asked as he noticed the quietly haunted look on his husband's face and observed the younger man stepping towards the head table. Mark and Ronnie both frowned as they watched Barry as well, but wisely did not step forward to interfere.

Barry didn't acknowledge Len or give any heed to the many eyes that were on him as he reached out and carefully picked up both his and Cisco's long forgotten goblets. Holding Cisco's goblet, which was still half-full of the simple cider the young man had been drinking instead of wine, in his right hand, and his own in his left. Barry then turned to Len as finally spoke.

" Len, could you take yours and Lisa's goblets, please?" He asked quietly.

Len eyed his husband with confusion marring his handsome features, but he nodded mutely and stepped over to the head table, taking the ornate goblets that he and Lisa had been drinking their wine from earlier. With them in hand, Len turned to Barry in silent askance as to what to do next.

" Husband, we need to go back to the Healing Wing, now." He said quietly.

Len eyed the deadly serious look on his husband's face and could see that Barry was in no mood for questions at the moment. Thinking quickly, Len gave Barry a curt nod before he turned his attention to Mark.

" General." He beckoned, Mark immediately stepping forward.

" Yes my king?" Len glanced at the servants who were standing in silent formation before he spoke.

" I go to the Healing Wing with my Husband, I leave it up to you to question these servants. Be diligent but not unkind, ask them if they can remember anything suspicious that occurred on this night, if they can think of anything, I want to know." Len said. Mark bowed in acknowledgment.

" Your will my king."

With that, Len walked alongside Barry, with Ronnie following as the trio headed out of the Great Hall, with Barry and Len each holding a pair of wine goblets.

A few minutes later found Barry, Len, and Ronnie entering the Healing Wing yet again. Len had tried to ask Barry just what the Hell was going on, and why he was taking just the two goblets in his hand when they had an entire hall full of food and drink that could have possibly been contaminated, but Barry had remained pale and steadfastly silent. Now they were making their way down the center aisle towards where the private wing and the apothecary were located.

" Ronnie, get Harrison quickly." Barry said over his shoulder as he made his way towards the apothecary, a confused Len following and being careful with the goblets in his hands since they both still contained wine. Ronnie nodded and hurried to do as he was bidden, ducking into the private ward where Harrison was no doubt tending to Cisco.

Barry made his way over to one of the clear worktables within the palace apothecary and set down Cisco's copper goblet, holding onto his own goblet. He lightly gestured with his free hand for Len to do the same. Len stayed silent as he set down the goblets in his hands beside Cisco's, being sure to space them out enough and noting the differences between them. While Len, Lisa, and Barry's goblets were all similarly designed, the decorations were subtly different. Lisa's goblet had purple stones, while Len's had deep blue sapphires, and Barry's goblet was decorated with rubies of deep, almost blood red. These were brand new goblets that Lisa had commission her guild to make, each one having a small, personal touch in the form of their favorite colors represented in the jewel work. Cisco's copper goblet had intricate carving work and simple white, oval cut stones around the circumference of the glass. The goblets were all unique enough to where they could tell which one belonged to which person in their current setting.

Before Len could finally ask Barry just what all of this meant, Lord Harrison Wells, looking tired but more or less calm and collected, cam striding into the apothecary area with Ronnie and Lisa following in his wake. Caitlyn had taken it upon herself to stay with Cisco and keep watch over him so that Lisa could see what was going on.

" Your majesties, you had need of me?" Harrison asked as he came to stand before the royal couple, the neat line of goblets on the table, and the one still in Barry's hand not going unnoticed by him.

Barry took a small breath before he stepped forward and spoke.

" Lord Wells, how is Cisco?" He asked first, concern for his friend taking precedent over his own racing thoughts. Harrison sent them all what he hoped was a reassuring look as he spoke.

" He is still unconscious, but there has been no further bleeding. The next few hours will be the most critical but as of right now I am hopeful that we administered the Haliper juice in time to counteract enough of the poison to where he is out of danger. We just have to be vigilant and let him heal from this."

Barry nodded, a wave of relief washing over him, and from the looks of it, everyone else as well. But the pressing matter that had brought Barry back to the Healing Wing so soon after re-entering the Great Hall came back to the forefront as Barry spoke with all seriousness.

" Lord Wells, I know that the tests you are conducting on Cisco's blood will take time for you to identify whatever the components of the poison may be, but I remember you showing me and Cisco your technique for detecting poisons." Barry began before he turned his gaze to the table where the three goblets stood.

" I need you to conduct that test on these four goblets now." He finished, tightening his hold on the goblet still in his hand, held separate from the others.

Feeling a bit confused but using his years of experience to keep it from showing on his face, Harrison nodded, understanding that this was not his apprentice standing before him, but his Prince Consort, who had just issued him orders.

" As you command my Prince." Harrison said with a nod before he headed towards the many shelves to get all of the necessary supplies and ingredients.

About ten minutes later Harrison was standing behind the table with the three goblets, each one with a medium sized glass beaker of a milky white liquid filling them halfway sitting in front of it. One beaker stood by itself, with no goblet behind it, signaling that this was the beaker reserved for Barry's goblet, which the young Prince still held firmly in his hand. Next to each beaker was a medicine dropper that was normally used for administering eye drops or medicine to babies. Barry, Len, Lisa, and Ronnie all stood gathered around the table as Harrison began to explain the test.

" As his Highness the Prince Consort has said, the liquid in the beakers is a combination of substances that I discovered would react to poisons that are hidden within other liquids, like wine, or even water. I will be dropping samples of the liquid in each of these goblets to see if there is any kind of reaction. If the drinks are safe, the liquid will stay the same, but if there is anything foreign, the liquid will react and change color." Harrison explained.

There were silent nods of understanding from everyone, while Barry glanced at the goblet of wine he was still holding in his hand, separate from the other, meaning it was to be tested last.

" Go ahead Harrison." Len said, his eyes shifting from the table where the goblets stood, to Barry who still stood pale and troubled, and then back again to the table that held what was the source of all of the anxiety at that moment.

Harrison nodded before he reached for the first dropper and dipped its end into the first goblet, Lisa's. Harrison gave the end of the dropper a light squeeze so that some of the wine still in the goblet was sucked up. The tension was thick as Harrison then held the filled dropper over the beaker of milky white liquid and gave the dropper another squeeze so that it expelled its contents.

Everyone watched with bated breath as the deep red drops of wine mingled with the poison testing solution. After several long moments, everyone was deflating a little seeing as to how there was no reaction. The solution remained milky white, while the wine gathered up at the top and stayed separate and deep red.

" Clear, my Princess." Harrison said as he looked up to gaze at Lisa.

Lisa nodded mutely and closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before she stood up straight and looked on. Len reached out and wrapped his arm around his sibling in silent support, Lisa sending him a wane smile before they turned back to the testing.

Barry reached out with his free hand and took Len's other hand into his own, wordlessly squeezing it. Without taking his eyes of of the table as Harrison repeated the procedure he had done with Lisa's goblet, Len squeezed Barry's hand back as they watched the beaker. Once more, the wine from Len's goblet caused no reaction to the solution.

" Clear as well, my King." Len nodded, feeling relieved at the confirmation despite the fact that he had already surmised that he was fine seeing as to how he hadn't come down with any of the symptoms that had befallen Cisco in the now hour and some minutes that had passed since the young Marquis had collapsed and started coughing up blood.

Then the atmosphere changed as Harrison came to stand behind the third goblet, the simple copper and white stone one that had been set for Cisco and the others who had sat at the head table with Len, Barry, and Lisa.

Everyone watched intently as Harrison used the dropper to take some of the cider from Cisco's goblet. Like twice before, Harrison emptied the contents of the dropper into the poison testing solution. Everyone, except perhaps Barry, was expecting the solution to finally change color, to reveal that it was Cisco's goblet that contained the poison, something they had assumed since he was the one who was poisoned. Before Harrison had even taken a sample out of Cisco's goblet, Barry had felt a cold ball of dread form in the pit of his stomach, and it just kept expanding now as he, and the others in the room all waited to see what happened.

When the milky substance did not so much as flicker, and the amber colored cider from Cisco's goblet merely floated to the surfaced just like the wine from Lisa and Len's goblets had done earlier, Barry felt that cold ball of dread explode inside him, spreading a chill through his entire being.

" It didn't change, why didn't it change?" Lisa asked, alarmed by what she was seeing.

" Harrison, Cisco was the one poisoned, but based on what I am seeing, his goblet's clean." Len said, a frown of confusion marring his features.

Before Harrison could respond, Barry was stepping forward and placing his goblet on the table so that it lined up with the others, the remaining beaker and dropper before it.

" Barry?" Len asked as he too stepped forward. Barry looked to his concerned husband, growing paler by the second as he mutely shook his head. Barry then turned to Harrison, who was also gazing at him with concern and spoke.

" Test it." He ordered firmly.

Lisa and Ronnie stepped closer as well, the entire apothecary deathly quiet as Harrison did as he was ordered by his Prince Consort. Harrison picked up the final dropper and dipped its tip into the wine that still filled the red jeweled goblet, squeezing the soft end and collecting some of the dark red liquid. Then he pulled the dropper out of the goblet and held it over the beaker of milky solution and squeezed again, so that the dropper expelled its contents.

Everyone watched as the red drops of liquid fell into the milky solution with a light splash. For a few seconds there was nothing, no reaction, but then the bottoms were dropping out of Len, Lisa, Ronnie, and Harrison's stomachs as the wine from Barry's did not float up to the surface like the liquids from the three others had, instead, the milky solution began to swirl, and darken. Within a few seconds, the once white substance was turning a putrid, charcoal black.

" Oh my God." Ronnie whispered, the first to break the deathly silence.

Lisa stared wide eyed at the goblet with the red stones, bringing a trembling hand up to cover her mouth.

"What is this Harrison? What the fuck is this?" Len asked angrily as he glared at the beaker now filled with blackened liquid, not wanting to believe what his eyes were seeing, and what his instincts were screaming at him.

Barry was white as a sheet as he stared at the final goblet, his goblet in complete silence.

Harrison stayed silent as well, his eyes zeroed in on Barry, who looked utterly shell-shocked. Len, Lisa, and Ronnie all turned their eyes to Barry as well.

" Barry?" Len asked softly.

With a small, shaking gasp Barry stepped away, turning his back to Len and the others as the full weight of confirmation as to what he had suspected crashed over him mercilessly. A part of Barry just wanted to collapse, to just give in to the despair, but Barry did none of these things. Instead, Barry took a deep breath, swiping a hand over his face before he turned back around to face his family and spoke.

" We've been going at it all wrong. Cisco wasn't the target... it was me." Barry said quietly as he stepped closer to a stunned looking Len.

" New Brother, what are you saying?" Lisa asked desperately as she too stepped forward to stand beside Len, who stood there still as a statue, gawking at his husband.

Letting out another shaky breath, Barry looked between Len and Lisa as he spoke.

" This wasn't an attack on Cisco. Whoever did this wasn't after him, they were after _me_. Cisco he... he just got in the way. " Barry said softly, his hazel green eyes growing over-bright with devastation as he looked to Len.

" I was supposed to die tonight." Barry whispered, and these words were what finally snapped Len out of the stupor he was in.

With a choked off sound Len lunged forward. Barry gasped as the breath was literally squeezed out of his lungs, but he didn't give a damn about that as he reached up and wrapped his arms around his husband in turn.

" No, no Barry no. This can't be. Why would you say that?" Len whispered against Barry's shoulder.

Barry barely stopped himself from dissolving right then and there, instead forcing himself to draw back so that he could look his husband in the eye as he spoke.

" You all just saw the test, all of your drinks were okay, even Cisco's. My goblet's the only one that had a reaction. You can test everything else in the hall, but no one else reported any symptoms, so I am pretty sure that nothing else was laced." Barry said, leaning into Len's hand when the King reached up and cupped his husband's pale cheek.

" How did this happen to Cisco then?" Lisa asked suddenly, looking afraid of the answer.

Barry let out a shaky breath as he thought hard regarding the events of earlier. Then it dawned on him.

" Oh my God." Barry whispered as a pained look spread across his features.

At the many questioning gazes that were leveled on him, Barry began to explain.

" I remember drinking from that goblet when dinner began, and everything was just fine, we were all eating and enjoying ourselves. Then at one point this servant came and refilled my goblet even though it was still half-full. I was about to take a sip when you held out your goblet to me Len." Barry's voice shook a little at this point as he gazed pointedly at his husband.

Len felt a cold chill spread through him as he realized just how close to danger Barry had been at the moment in question, and how he had inadvertently saved his husband's life by the simple act of holding out his goblet so that they could share it.

" Like we did on our wedding day." Len said knowingly, while Barry nodded and gave Len this fleeting, pain-filled smile before he sobered and continued.

" I shared Len's goblet, so I didn't drink any of the new wine that had been poured."

" But then, how did the poison get into Cisco's system?" Harrison asked as he stepped around the table. Lisa too stepped closer, wanting to know just how her Cisco got poisoned.

It was here that Barry's eyes finally filled with tears and his face crumbled a little before he shook his head and composed himself.

" H-He was so nervous about asking for your hand Sis, he didn't want to embarrass you or himself. I remember that Cisco told me he was finally gonna do it, he was going to get up and ask Len for your hand. Cisco doesn't really like alcohol, it's why he sticks to cider. I was just about to take a drink from my goblet, it was almost at my lips when Cisco asked me if he could take a sip from it, for courage.

It was here that the tears finally broke free, carving trails over Barry's pale cheeks as he gave a helpless shrug.

" I-I didn't think anything of it, I gave him my goblet and he... he drank some. Then he got up and began his formal proposal to you Len and it was going well, he was holding his own and making it clear that he was genuine in his love for you Sis. That's when..."

Barry trailed off as the haunting images of his best friend standing confident and sure one moment, and then doubling over and coughing up rivers of blood the next began to assault his mind. A strangled sob forced Barry out of the memories that were plaguing him. With a small gasp, Barry turned his eyes to the source of the sob and he felt his heart lurch when he caught sight of Lisa.

The Princess of Nevar stood paler than snow, tears streaming down her cheeks while her hand covered her mouth, her whole body trembling. Barry turned to Len, the two of them sharing a look of silent understanding before they were both moving as one, rushing to envelope Lisa into their arms. The tender comfort her brother and brother-in-law wordlessly showered upon her was enough to finally break the tenuous hold Lisa had on her composure. With a soft cry she broke down, sobbing as she clung to her family.

Barry felt like he was being ripped apart inside, knowing now that Cisco was the collateral damage in what was revealed to have been an assassination attempt on his life. Barry looked to Len and could see that his husband was barely holding it together himself. While Len's face was somehow neutral, his steely blue eyes gave away the turmoil that was raging within the King of Nevar. As the moments progressed, the embrace soon went from Barry and Len hugging Lisa, to Len holding both Lisa and Len in his arms, subconsciously protecting both.

Len felt rage boiling inside him like bubbling oil. Someone had wanted to kill his husband, and in so attempting such a heinous act, had ended up nearly claiming the life of his husband's best friend, who was also his sister's fiancé as far as Len was concerned.

Once Lisa had calmed down some, she drew back and looked at Len with determined stare as she spoke.

" I didn't get to say this in front of everyone like I wanted to, but you're the one this matters to." She said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks and continued, looking dead serious and every bit the royalty that she was.

" My heart belongs to Cisco just as much as his heart belongs to me. We've been together for the last three months, and while I am sorry that we hid our relationship from you my King, I am not sorry for being with him. He is the one, and whether you like it or not, I will have no one else but Cisco Ramon."

Barry smiled down at Lisa despite his tears, while Len felt pride swell up in his heart as his baby sister met his gaze head on and determined.

There was a bet of silence, an impasse as it were, and then Len was sighing as he reached up and tenderly took Lisa's face into his hands as he spoke.

" I know Sis, I've known that you and Cisco have been seeing each other for a few weeks now, just a little after me and Barry got back from the Chateau." Len began to explain.

Lisa inhaled sharply and stared at Len wide eyed.

" Y-You knew about us big brother?" She asked in disbelief. Len found himself smiling down at his sister despite the whole situation.

" I caught the two of you kissing by Great-Grandmother's portrait, and I caught on that Barry knew because he'd send you both these warning looks when you all thought I wasn't paying attention." He said, looking smug.

Lisa turned her gaze to Barry, who sent her a sheepish little smile before he shrugged.

" You know better than me how perceptive Len can be." He said simply.

" Well why didn't either of you say anything?" Lisa asked in confusion as her eyes looked between Len and Barry. It was Len who continued to explain with a sad smile across his face.

" I wanted to hear what he had to say, and besides, what kind of big brother would I be if I didn't mess with the man my sister's gonna marry?"

Lisa let outa watery laugh, but then she stiffened and her eyes widened.

" Gonna marry?" She asked softly, scarcely daring to hope that she had heard her brother right.

Len's smirk turned into a tired, but warm smile as he pulled Lisa closer to him, pressing a kiss to her brow before he nodded and spoke.

" Yeah Sis, I don't have a problem with you marrying Cisco. It's not because he's my husband's best friend or because he gave up his life in Central Kingdom to be here and he needed tone repaid for that kind of sacrifice, it's because I know he earned the privilege of having your love." It was here that Len's smile dimmed, and his eyes reflected his quite pain as he continued. Barry felt his own heart lurch a little at the look on his husband's face

" After I found out about you both, I noticed things, like how you make him smile like no one else, or how he looks at you like you are more precious than life itself. He was holding his own tonight Sis, when he got up and asked me for your hand and I started testing him. I was going to make him sweat a little, that's all. And then all of this happened before I could even tell him that... I have no objection to your union. I've only ever wanted you to be happy Lisa."

In an instant Lisa's face crumbled and Barry's face broke out into a tearful grin as together, he and Lisa proceeded to squeeze Len tightly. Len smiled, feeling his eyes burn, but not outright crying as he held his family. He glanced up and caught Harrison's eye, his Chief Advisor smiling sadly, but with approval. Ronnie smiled warmly from where he stood watching, feeling somewhat at ease despite the situation.

That did not last long however as a familiar female voice called out, accompanied by the sound of frantic footfalls.

" Lord Wells, Lord Wells come quick!" Caitlyn yelled as she came barreling into the apothecary looking frantic.

Once more everyone was on high alert as Harrison rushed forward.

" Caitlyn is it Cisco?" Harrison asked while the others gathered around.

" Yes my Lord, I was just sitting with him when I noticed he was in discomfort. I checked him and he's burning up." Caitlyn reported.

In an instant they were all rushing out of the apothecary, Caitlyn still unaware of the startling revelations that had occurred, everyone's sole focus being the young man who had unwittingly been caught in the crossfire of the deadly plot against the Prince Consort of Nevar.

When they all reached the private ward, Harrison and Barry rushed forward to Cisco's side while the others stood back to allow them to assess the young man. Where as before Cisco had been pale and moderately still, now there was a definite flush to his cheeks beneath a sheen of sweat as he lightly writhed beneath the sheets covering him.

" It's a fever alright, but thankfully it appears mild." Harrison said with a frown.

" Should I get the compresses we made earlier this week?" Barry asked, Harrison looked up and gave his apprentice/Prince a fleeting smile as he nodded.

" Good thinking, let's try to get this fever down now before it get's worse." Barry nodded and then hurried off back towards the apothecary to get the cold compressed that were essentially packets of tissue paper filled with all manner of herbs that would help with fever and provide comfort to the sufferer.

" Why has be come down with a fever Harrison?" Lisa asked as she, Len, Ronnie, and Caitlyn all drew closer, her blue eyes swimming with concern and lingering salt.

Harrison turned to the group and sighed.

" I do not believe that the poison itself is what's causing the fever, but that Cisco's own body is reacting to the shock and raising it's own defenses against the foreign substance. He's fighting your majesties, he is fighting to live and I will do all in my power to make sure he wins."

Len nodded mutely as Harrison's words, but his own steel-blue eyes were trained on Cisco, memories of how a fever had wrecked his life in the past undoubtedly rising back to the surface. Len quickly quashed these memories and all the horrible, nightmarish feeling they brought with them. They all had enough to deal with and by all the was holy, he was not about to let the past pull him down, especially when the people he loved needed him to be strong.

A few moments later Barry was rushing back into the private ward with a small bowl in his hand that had the aforementioned compress floating in cold water. Barry quickly made his way over to Cisco's bedside and place the bowl down on the bedside table before he dipped his hands into the bowl and picked up the compress. He carefully squeezed some of the excess water out of the compress before he gently placed it onto his best friend's fevered brow.

Cisco groaned lightly at the cold contact, but within moments he was settling down. Barry smiled wanly down at his injured friend before he looked over his shoulder, his eyes seeking out Lisa. A silent exchange passed between them before comprehension dawned on Lisa. With a grateful look the princess stepped forward while Barry wordlessly rose and stepped aside so that Lisa could take over his spot by Cisco's side.

Harrison turned to Barry as he spoke.

" You Highness, I must go and check the blood test, you are the one most qualified in my absence." Barry nodded mutely, feeling utterly drained.

Len nodded mutely to his Chief Advisor, who nodded back before taking his leave and heading towards his office where he had set up the test for Cisco's poisoned blood. Hopefully enough time had passed for the samples to had yielded results regarding the components of the poison. Len stood close by, his eyes trained completely on Barry. Barry could feel Len's eyes locked onto him, but he found himself unable to meet that intense gaze, he feared that he would shatter to pieces if he did. Neither had forgotten just what had been revealed by Harrison's tests on the goblets. Len's eyes were only for Barry, and Barry was doing his utmost not to collapse, instead doing as he had been tasked and tending to Cisco. As Lisa and Barry kept vigil over Cisco, Ronnie discreetly took Caitlyn aside so that he could apprise his wife of what happened in the Apothecary before she had come to fetch them, about the truth of what had really transpired, and more specifically who the real target of the poison was. Ronnie could only watch in sympathy as the color drained out of his wife's face as his words of revelation registered with her.

" Someone tried to poison the Prince, but ended up poisoning Cisco by sheer happenstance?" She said softly so as not to disturb.

" Yes Caitlyn, the Prince himself was the one who figured out just how the poison ended up in Cisco. This is awful." Ronnie said sadly.

" He's our prince Ronnie, someone tried to harm our Prince and through him our King and Princess. Why is this happening?" Caitlyn asked as she and Ronnie both turned their gazes to the royals the serves, and in all honesty, loved dearly.

" I wish I knew Caitlyn." Ronnie said as he wrapped an arm tightly around his wife's shoulders.

Meanwhile in his office, Harrison made his way over to the small table he kept by one of the large arched windows. There atop the table were several beakers filled halfway with liquids. Just after he had used the blood collecting needle to obtain a fresh sample of Cisco's poisoned blood, Harrison had used his practiced ease to set up the test, which was just like the test he had conducted on the goblets just a few minutes earlier.

Harrison had filled the many beakers with different poison detecting solutions, only unlike the test on the goblets, these solutions were designed to sort out the various components of a poison, hence the need for so many beakers. If there was one thing that could be said about Lord Harrison Wells, it was that he was nothing if not extremely thorough. Into each of these beakers Harrison had added a few drops of Cisco's blood to see whether or not there would be a reaction. This test, though similar to the one on the goblets, need just a little more time to yield results. It wasn't like the people who needed to know the results of the test were scattered throughout the palace, they were all there in the Healing Wing trying to make sense of this entire messed situation they had all found themselves in.

As he neared the table with the beakers, Harrison kept his face neutral, but his heart kept when he saw that the poison testing solutions had indeed changed in color. Harrison hurried the rest of the distance, and then let his keen eyes wrack over each cylinder, scrutinizing the color changes and what they could possibly mean regarding the elements of the poison itself.

As he processed what he was seeing, Harrison found himself feeling both stunned, but also elated. Relief crashed through him like a tidal wave, but it was quickly followed by a deep apprehension that chilled him to his very core. Said apprehension, then turned into a quiet, seething rage.

Harrison quickly snapped back to the present, there was no time for just standing there being angry. The test had revealed the elements of the poison, and startling enough, Harrison recognized the the concoction. While a part of him wanted to go immediately to his king and give him some answers finally, right now his priority was to his patient.

Harrison grabbed a piece of paper and a pen off his desk and looked at the test again, writing down each element of the poison. He was then all but running out of his office. In the private ward, Len, Barry, Lisa, Caitlyn, and Ronnie all looked up startled as Harrison hurried past them back into the apothecary. Before anyone could say anything, Barry took off running after Harrison. Len quickly followed suit. When the royals entered the apothecary, they were met with the sight of Harrison scrambling through the many shelves, snatching up jars and vials of various colors.

" Harrison, what's going on?" Len asked and he and Barry drew closer. Without pausing in his retrieval of ingredients, Harrison spoke.

" Your Majesties, the test on Cisco's blood has yielded results. The elements of the poison are quiet nasty, but you will be pleased to know that I have seen this kind of concoction before."

Barry and Len both felt a bolt of shock go through them at Harrison's words. Harrison retrieved the last of the ingredients he would need and then quickly made his way over to one of the work tables that had a mixing bowl.

" Harrison, you've dealt with this before?" Len asked loudly as he and Barry made there way over to the table where Harrison was rapidly opening vials and jars and tossing measured amounts of their contents into the mixing bowl. Without looking up from his task, Harrison nodded.

" Yes my King, at first I didn't recognize it, it's been so long, but I have seen this poison before, both in books and in actual cases back when I was still an apprentice."

" How bad is it Harrison?" Barry asked anxiously.

" Oh it's bad, really bad, one of the nastiest kinds of poison out there. It's made from different poisonous plants, and distilled from the stomach of an animal, like a goat or a cow. It's in the class of poisons that cause internal bleeding and used to be incurable." Len frowned a little as he spoke.

" Used to be?" It was here that Len and Barry both felt a little stunned when Harrison looked up at them and gave them a smile as he spoke.

" Exactly that, over the years an antidote formula came to fruition, and that is what I am making right now. Cisco had already had some Haliper juice that seemed to be working in stopping the poison's progression, but what I am making now will neutralize it completely." There was a beat of silence before Barry exhaled.

" Oh thank God."

Barry felt his knees go week with relief. He reached out and grabbed Len's arm to keep himself upright, all the while a dazed smile spread across his feature. Len went further and wrapped his arm around his husband's shoulder, he too feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. They stood their in silence, watching Harrison work. It was about ten minutes later that Harrison was pouring the finished antidote into a glass.

Once that was done Harrison was all but running back to the private wing with Barry and Len following close behind. Lisa looked up from her vigil over Cisco when the sound of fast approaching footfalls caught her ear. She turned and was immediately alert when she caught sight of Harrison coming towards then with a glass of white liquid in his hand, and Len and Barry following close behind.

Once Harrison, Len, and Barry reached Cisco's bedside, Lisa got up without any prompting. Barry made his way around the bed and then reached for Cisco, carefully pulling his still feverish friend up into a sitting position. Cisco groaned in protest at being moved but otherwise didn't struggle.

" Cisco, open your eyes for me." Harrison said quietly, reaching out with his free hand and lightly tapping at Cisco fever flushed cheek in an effort to rouse the young man.

With another groan Cisco finally opened his eyes barely, but it was clear that he was still out of it. His eyes were glassy and unfocused as he stared at Harrison.

" Hey Cisco, I know you had a rough night, but I need you to drink some of this, it's going to help you feel better I promise." Harrison said gently as he raised the glass to Cisco's lips.

From where she stood next to Len, Lisa found some of her terror ease as she watched Cisco part his lips to take a drink of the medicine Harrison had brought him.

Caitlyn and Ronnie also drew closer to see what was happening. Everyone watched as Harrison pressed the glass to Cisco's colorless lips and tipped some of the glass' contents into his young apprentices mouth. Cisco let out a muffled groan at the taste of the antidote but Barry was there to encourage him to keep drinking. Harrison too kept his movements gentle as Cisco slowly drank from the cup. Once most of the liquid was gone, Harrison drew away and Cisco sighed in relief before his eyes were falling shut again and he went limp in Barry's arms.

With his eyes glistening with tears, Barry gently lowered Cisco back down onto the bed and covered him with the sheets. Harrison sighed as he placed the empty glass on the nightstand by Cisco's bed. The tension that had been looming over the entire Private Wing had dissipated somewhat, but there were still so many questions left unanswered.

" We're going to have to keep giving him the antidote to neutralize the poison completely, but what I just gave him now should be enough to help him start to fight off the fever and the lingering effects of the poison."

Lisa suddenly rushed forward and all but tackled Harrison in a bone crushing hug.

" Thank you." Was all Lisa said against Harrison's shoulder. Harrison had stiffened a little at the unexpected contact, but he quickly relaxed and hugged Lisa back as he spoke.

" No need for that my Princess, it's my job to look after all of you." He said simply, looking up to see both Len and Barry smiling warmly at him.

With a shaky breath, Lisa finally drew back from Harrison and spoke.

" Someone please explain to me what's going on?" She said as she looked around the room. Harrison began to explain what he had discovered.

" The tests I conducted on Cisco's blood yielded results that I haven't seen in a very long time, not since I was an apprentice myself, it's why I didn't recognize it initially. At first, this poison always resulted in death to whoever got it in their system, but over the years the antidote I just gave to Cisco was developed by my predecessors, and because the antidote became so successful at treating many different kinds of poison it rendered this particular poison obsolete. Use of this poison became so sparse that over time it was forgotten, only ever mentioned now a days as a part of medical history." It was here that Harrison turned to Len and Barry before he continued.

" It seems, someone somehow successfully resurrected the beast as it were." Harrison said grimly, finally allowing some of his anger to show through.

" And unleashed it." Barry said quietly, feeling a chill shoot up his spine as he remembered once more that he had been the intended target of this assassination attempt.

Len and Lisa both stepped closer to Barry, the king wrapping his arm around his husband's shoulders, while the princess reached out and took Barry's hand into hers, squeezing it tightly. Len turned his eyes to Harrison, the striking blue eyes looking more like to orbs of ice, and filled with cold fury as he spoke.

" Whoever did this, I won't spare them." Len said quietly, his face seemingly hewn from stone. On Barry's other side, Lisa looked just as quietly murderous as she nodded in agreement. Then Barry spoke.

" How long will it be before the antidote-" He began, but a commotion on the other side of the private ward's walls caught everyone attention.

" Your Majesties!" Mark Mardon shouted as he rushed into the private wing.

" What is it Mark?" Len asked as he reluctantly let go of Barry and stepped forward to greet his general, who was a bit out of breath.

" Your Majesties, how is he?" Mark asked first, his eye going to where Cisco lay, deep concern written across his features. Harrison came forward and spoke.

" The poison that was used is familiar to me, we had the cure in hand. He's going to be alright." The Chief Advisor said in assurance. Mark sagged a little in relief, but then he was quickly standing straight again as he turned his attention back to his King and Prince.

" My king, I carried out a roll call of the servants. Every man and woman has been accounted for save for one man." Mark reported.

There was an immediate shift back to tension at Mark's words. Frowning, Len spoke.

" What is this man's name?" Len asked, his suspicions rising.

" William Hornsby my king. I asked around, the reports are that he was there throughout the preparations at the start of the night, but that he had been dispatched to get more wine from the cellars and never returned. No one recalls seeing him since." Mark replied with his expression stony.

A tension quickly filled the air, many questions arising all at once about this new revelation.

" I have my men searching every inch of that cellar, while others a sweeping the entire palace. If Hornsby is still here somewhere, we won't rest until we find him."

Len nodded while Barry looked on with a frown as he played the events of the night over in his mind. He tried to focus on the one servant that had poured him a drink. With that servant's face on his mind, Barry then looked to Len and Mark, stepping forward as he spoke.

" Mark, did you get a description of this man?" He asked.

Mark blinked at this before he nodded.

" Yes your majesty, according to the supervisors, William Hornsby was among the temporary servants who were hired for the ball. He's young, twenty-four years old. He is perhaps a couple of inches shorting than me and medium build, blond hair and blue eyes."

As Mark gave them Hornsby's description, Barry shook his head sadly as he spoke.

" Thank you Mark, but I don't think William Hornsby is the one responsible for this." He said quietly.

" My Prince?" Mark asked in confusion.

Barry shared a look with Len, the two of them silently communicating before Len turned back to Mark looking grim.

" Mark, much has happened in the last hour, the situation is changed. Come, we'll explain." Len said before he looked over his shoulder to Harrison.

" Harrison." He said simply. Harrison nodded and stepped forward. He paused before Caitlyn and Ronnie and spoke.

" You two keep an eye on things while we get Mark up to speed." He said quietly, Caitlyn and Ronnie both nodding in acknowledgement before they took up vigil over Cisco along with Lisa.

Mark followed dutifully after Len and Barry, with Harrison walking beside him as the royal couple led the way back to the apothecary.

Once the three of them were in the apothecary, Harrison began to quietly explain the situation to the general. Barry watched as all of the color literally drained out of Mark's face before his very eyes. Mark stood stunned by what his friend was saying, and when his eyes fell on Barry and saw the look on his Prince Consort's face, he felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. Once Harrison was done explaining, he quietly took his leave to returned to Cisco's side, leaving Len and Barry with Mark. It was after several long moments of stunned silence that Mark finally composed himself and spoke.

" Are you alright my Prince?" He asked in concern, Barry smiling wanly at him as he gave a light shrug and shook his head.

" Not really." Barry said simply.

Placing his hand over Barry's shoulder, Len spoke.

" Mark, I want this truth kept hidden for the time being, I don't want whoever did this to know we've figured out that Barry was the intended target. If we go about putting on a show that we think they were after Cisco, it might stroke this son of a bitch's ego." Mark nodded in understanding.

" I concur your majesty, I will not share what you have told me with anyone else, but Cisco's a friend, I will not rest until I find who is responsible for this." He said firmly, anger spreading across his feature.

" Thank you Mark." Len said quietly before he glanced at Barry and then spoke.

" You said you have kept the servants sequestered in the Great Hall still?" He asked. Mark nodded.

" Yes my King, my men are making sure that they are comfortable, but also keeping close watch." Len nodded.

" Good, then that is were me and Barry are going." Before Mark could ask why, Barry cut him off and explained.

" I want to see all of the servants for myself while the face of the one who served me the wine is still fresh in my mind. More likely than not, the one who did this is long gone, but we have to be sure."

" Your will, my Prince." Mark said with a nod, although there was reluctance on his face. Len himself did not look pleased as he spoke.

" Barry, I can't allow this, it's too dangerous." Len said, Barry met his husband's gaze with hard green eyes as he spoke.

" I know it's dangerous Len, but I am the best chance we have at identifying this son of a bitch. I'm not backing down, no way." Len deflated at the quiet, angry determination in his husband's eyes and then nodes before he turned to his head general.

" Lead the way then General Mardon." Len said quietly. Mark gave a silent nod and then proceeded out of the apothecary with Len and Barry following after him. Barry and Len stayed silent as they watched Mark pause for a moment to gaze into the private wing where Cisco lay before the general tore himself away and continued as his king had ordered him. Barry and Len also took lingering looks at Cisco with all the others who were keeping vigil over him. It was too soon to see if the antidote was working, but at least Cisco was sleeping soundly and no longer tossing and turning.

Once the three of them were out in the hall, they proceeded towards the Great Hall. As they progressed, Barry turned his eyes to the side towards his husband, and he instantly felt his heart lurch at what he saw. Len was walking with his eyes focused squarely ahead. His face could very well have been made of granite, his jaw clenched in quiet fury. But Barry knew his husband, he knew that beneath the anger there was quiet terror. Len was simply using every ounce of experience to keep his dignity about him. Without saying a word Barry reached out and took Len's hand into his own and squeezed it hard. Len did not give any outward sign that he's been startled by the gesture, but without looking at Barry he squeezed his husband's hand back in an almost painfully tight grip.

They didn't let go for the duration of their walk towards the Great Hall.

When the three reached the Great Hall, the great doors opened once more with a low groan, the quiet murmuring from the hall's many occupants growing silent in the wake of the King and Prince Consort's impending arrival.

At the threshold, Mark smoothly stepped to the side to let Len and Barry enter first hand in hand before he followed closely in their wake. The royal couple were swift as they once again made their way down the hall to the raised dais.

The rather large group of servants all stood before the dais, many looking nervous, others looking in askance towards their rulers.

Barry and Len stood before the veritable army of servants, both tang a cursory look around at them before Len spoke.

" Ladies and gentlemen, I shall start by asking once more, are all of you alright?"

Once more there were appreciative looks, nods, and a rumbling chorus of "Yes you majesty". Len nodded before be continued.

" General Mardon has brought it to my attention that there is one among you who is missing, a William Hornsby. The palace is being searched, if he's still here we will find him. Any information you may have about this man will be most appreciated." It was then that one of the supervisor stepped forward.

" You majesties, I know how suspicious this looks, but William Hornsby's a good man, I can vouch for that. He'd never hurt a soul." The supervising servant said, many of the others in the crowd nodding and murmuring in agreement. It was hear that Barry spoke.

" I thank you for your words, but the fact still remains that whoever carried out this attack most likely infiltrated your ranks in order to get close enough to do so. It has been revealed that someone spiked Marquis Ramon's drink and through my own recollection I remember the face of the servant who poured the drinks at our table right before the Marquis started showing symptoms."

Barry glanced at Len, the two of them silently communicating that they wanted everyone to keep thinking that Cisco was the target s of right now.

" With this in mind, I would like every servant that does not fit the description I am about to give you all to step aside." Barry said firmly, looking absolutely serious.

The tension was thick as the servants awaited further instruction, Len himself curious to know the description of his husband's would be killer. Taking in a deep, steadying breath Barry spoke.

" A man." He began.

As instructed, all of the female servants broke away from the group and shuffled off to the side, many looking relieved as Barry continued.

" Short, dark hair and dark eyes." Once more the crowd dwindled as those with light hair and eyes all broke away from the group. Barry, Len, and Mark all zeroed in on the remaining servants as Barry continued.

" Medium build and below six feet in height." Once more the crowd grew smaller. Now there were only a handful of men left, all of them looking a bit nervous but standing still and in a line before their rulers. Then Barry called out the final key feature of the face in his mind.

" Anyone with a crooked nose, either natural or through some misfortune." The line of servants dwindled for a final time, leaving only ten men standing.

The tension could be cut with a knife as Barry stepped forward, Len and Mark following as Barry began his inspection.

Barry studied each face, moving down the line, scrutinizing in silence. Mark walked in between Barry and the line of men, making it clear that he was there to guard the Prince Consort of Nevar.

As his eyes wracked over each man's face, Barry found himself feeling both relief but also slight disappointment. While many looked similar to the man Barry remembered, none of them were an exact match.

" It's not any of them." Barry declared with a sigh, breaking the tension that had filled the entire hall.

The ten men who had been lined up all relaxed in their various ways before they too stepped away and rejoined the crowd.

Len went about dismissing the servants but also once again imploring them to come forward if they remembered anything at all that was out of the ordinary about the night. After that, things had begun to blur for Barry as the exhaustion began to settle over him. The hour was late, the clocks reading one o'clock in the morning. Once the Great Hall was emptied, Len, Barry, and Mark all headed back to the Healing Wing of the palace.

Despite his exhaustion, Barry was relieved beyond words when Harrison informed them that the antidote appeared to be working, and there was already an improvement to Cisco earlier, pallid complexion.

" I'll be here to monitor his condition." Harrison said quietly.

" I'm gonna stay with him." Lisa said unsurprisingly, a determined look on her tired face.

Len stepped forward as placed his hand over his sister's head.

" But Sis you gotta rest." Len began to say when Lisa gave her older brother a warning look, but just as quickly the look faded into one of quiet sadness.

" I'm not going anywhere, I'll rest here, with him." Lisa said as she turned her eyes to Cisco. Len nodded, knowing there was no changing his sister's mind. Len then turned his attention to Caitlyn and Ronnie.

" I can have someone escort the two of you home." He said. Caitlyn and Ronnie shared a look before they met their king's gaze. It was Ronnie who spoke.

" With all do respect your majesty, we don't mind staying with her Highness." Len, Lisa, and Barry all sent the couple grateful looks and brittle smiles before Len nodded his thanks.

Everyone lingered there for several long minute until finally, Len caught sight of just how exhausted his husband looked. He probably looked just as bad. Len reached out and gripped Barry by the shoulder as he spoke.

" We should go and rest too." He said quietly. Barry turned, ready to protest, but the way Len was looking at him had Barry falling silent instead. He stared into those steely-blue eyes and saw the myriad of emotions swirling silently within them.

This was all it took for Barry to understand what Len wanted. His husband wanted for them to be alone right now. Swallowing thickly, Barry nodded and spoke.

" Y-Yeah, we should." He said softly.

Harrison then came forward and insisted that they each take a small vial of sleeping draught with them. Despite both Barry and Len's protests, Harrison handed them each a small glass vial of clear liquid and insisted that they drink them now in his presence. Barry and Len did as Harrison commanded, each downing the clear contents of the vials the Chief Healer had given them. Once that was done, Len and Barry made their way over to Lisa. Lisa rose from her seat at Cisco's bedside to embrace Len and then Barry. Before they took their leave, Len reached out and took his sister's hand in his, squeezing it and kissing the back of it. When Len let go, Barry took over, doing the same, Though she kept herself more or less stoic, the bright sheen over those striking blue eyes let Len and Barry both know how deeply moved Lisa was by the gesture.

Mark and Ronnie took it upon themselves to escort Len and Barry as the royal couple made their way back to their apartments. The walk was made it silence, the four men either too drained or not willing to speak. Barry and Len were hyper-aware of each other as they walked through the hallway. When the royal couple finally reached the main doors to their apartments, they dismissed Mark and Ronnie after thanking them for being there in their hour of need.

Len opened the door and held it for Barry to go in first before he stepped over the threshold and locked everything. Still without saying a word, Barry and Len made there way to their bedroom. Barry opened the door this time and stepped through, holding it open for Len, who once again made sure it was firmly locked. When he turned around from the doors, Len found himself face to face with Barry.

For what seemed like a life-age, the two simply stared at each other, everything around them still and silent. Then something shifted in the air between them and as one they were barreling towards each other. Barry let out a desperate noise that was quickly swallowed up as Len smashed his mouth to his husband's in a desperate kiss. They clung to each other, reveling in the feeling of simply being physically with each other. When the need for air became too much to ignore, they broke apart with a gasp. Len held Barry's face in his hands, gazing into his husband's haunted green eyes.

It was hitting them both all at once, how mere hours ago someone had almost torn them apart forever. The room was silent save for the sounds of their shaky breathing. Still without saying a word, they slowly made their way further into the bedroom. As they progressed the clothes they were wearing were quietly divested, starting from the chains of state they had still been wearing, to their trousers as they reached the foot of their bed

They fell onto their bed, clad only in their underwear, slowly shifting until they were laying in the center. They did not divest themselves completely because this was not about carnal pleasures, but about intimacy and reassurance through touch. Barry gasped lightly, reveling in the feel of Len's solid weight nearly all the way on top of him. Barry wrapping his arms tightly around Len, his hand's wandering all over his husband's bare back, grounding himself in the feel of the rippling muscles and warm flesh. Len in turn wrapped his arms around Barry, burying his face into his husband's neck while he tangled their legs together.

For several long minutes they simply lay there in each other's arms and just breathed, letting the skin to skin contact wash over them and ground them.

Len was the first to move as he pushed himself up onto his elbows and gazed down at Barry. Barry pulled one of his hands away from Len's back and reached up to cup his husband's cheek. Len leaned into the touch, his eyes fluttering as he turned his head to press his lips to Barry's palm. Barry leaned up and pressed a kiss to the arc of Len's cheekbone before he sought out his husband's lips in deep kiss, gentler than the desperate kisses they had shared earlier when they had entered their bedroom and divested themselves of their clothing.

As they kissed, both men felt a warm sensation slowly spreading through them, making their heads feel heavy while the rest of the world seemed to fade into the background. Needless to say, it was clear they the sleeping draught Harrison had given them was starting to take hold. When they finally drew apart several long moments later, they were both breathing hard and their eyes were a little unfocused. Barry was the one who finally broke the silence.

" You saved me Len." He said softly. He watched as Len's face crumbled a bit at these words as the King shook his head.

" I failed Cisco and Lisa." He whispered. Barry just shook his head as he held Len's face in his hands.

" No husband, you didn't. The only one to blame for this is whoever wanted me dead Len, not you." Barry said firmly before he pulled Len's head down towards him and pressed their foreheads together.

" Right now though, just be here with me." Len nodded against Barry's forehead and then leaned in to press his lips to his husband's.

When they drew apart, Len started kissing a trail along Barry's jaw, then down the side of his neck, and finally stopping after he had placed a final kiss to the center of barry's chest, right over his heart. Once there, Len lowered himself off of his elbows and rested his head right over the same spot he had kissed, pressing his ear to Barry's chest. When Barry realized what Len was doing, he finally let the final strands of control shatter as with a shaky breath he let the tears fall free. With fresh salt leaking from the outer corners of his closed eyes, Barry wrapped his arms around his husband, running his hands over Len's shoulders and over the back of his head.

From where he lay, Len allowed the beating of his husband's heartbeat lull him further towards slumber, but an icy rock settling in his stomach despite the calming effects of the sleeping draught as it hit him yet again that this same heartbeat had nearly been snubbed out but for sheer luck. Len closed his eyes and just listened to that steady beat, tears leaking out past the seams of his own eyelids and over the bridge of his nose.

As one Barry and Len finally drifted off into the oblivion the sleeping draught provided them, a small respite from the nightmare the night had become.

What would happen later was anyone's guess.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Chapter 16

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Len sighed as he draped the simple chain of silver disks inlaid with elegant square cut sapphires over his own shoulders. The King of Nevar was currently in his changing suite, adding the final touches to his attire for the day. The king wore a cobalt blue Tudor style jacket with silver piping running vertically down the chest and spiraling down the sleeves. Over the jacket was a sleeveless, floor-length over jacket of the same hue as the jacket, lined with silvery white fur. He wore simple black leather trousers and sleek black knee-length boots. The silver chain he was adjusting was the final accessory to finish out the look. It was a bit more simple and understated look compared to Len's usual attire, but none-the-less he still looked striking.

But what was different about today was not just the under-statedness of Len's attire, but also the fact that he was currently in his changing suite alone. Unlike the normal routine where Ronnie would be their to help his king dress, today Len had gone about dressing himself and had charged his own page with helping someone else get dressed. As he gave himself a final look in the standing mirror, Len felt a wave of the sadness that now seemed inevitable as his mind wandered to where he had sent Ronnie, as he had been sending him for the past week counting today.

The reason why Len was alone in his changing suite, dressing himself as a king rarely every did was because he had sent Ronnie to Barry's changing suite to tend to his husband's every need. Barry had at first protested this, telling Len that he could dress himself just fine with Cisco still in recovery after his near-death experience, but Barry's protests had died quickly when Len had taken him aside and told him that while it was true that he could have just arranged for Barry to have a temporary Page, he had noticed how shaken Ronnie had been by everything that had happened. Len explained that he felt it best that Ronnie serve Barry in Cisco's place not just so that the page could help them, but to also reassure Ronnie himself without causing the young Lord any embarrassment.

And so for the past week, every morning Ronnie helped Len pick out his outfit for the day before quietly ducking away to serve his Prince Consort. Len did not mind doing it all himself anyway, and seeing some of the sadness, and yes, anxiety that had gripped Ronnie fade somewhat from serving Barry had made the exchange worth it. Len sighed as he turned away from the mirror and headed out of his changing suite.

Once he was outside in the living room area to wait for Barry and Ronnie, Len made his way over to the nearest window to have a look outside. The skies over Nevar were dreary and gray, the clouds dark and promising frost of freezing rain. It was perfect metaphor for the mood that was like a pall over the Palace, hell, the whole Kingdom itself. Where as the time of year was meant to be one of bright joy and celebration since they were known as the Winter Kingdom, instead after the horrifying events of the Winter Solstice Ball, it was like all good cheer had fled. It pained Len to say that it was not just from the Kingdom that cheer had fled, but also from his husband as well. In the days since his best friend was nearly killed, Barry had withdrawn into himself somewhat. Sure, he was there with Len physically, but the king could tell that his beloved's mind was elsewhere, miles, maybe even worlds away. Len himself could still feel the phantom chill from that horrible event, the cold tendrils of terror as to what could have been instead of what was. If Len were honest with himself, he had withdrawn a little himself, the guilt of what had happened to Cisco and what had nearly happened to Barry weighing heavily on his mind. Leonard Snart felt like he had utterly and totally failed those he loved, but over these few days he had kept himself as composed and stoic as ever, never showing the despair he was truly feeling.

As he gazed forlornly out at the gray skies over Never, Len could not help but recall how the last few days had been filled with the steady current of anxiety, for the one, or ones responsible for what had happened to Cisco remained at large. Not much headway had been made in ferreting out just who the hell would want to do this to the royal couple of Nevar. On top of that, more tragedy had been piled on to them.

On the morning after the disastrous Ball, Len had ordered that all the food and wine that had been brought in for the Ball, both used and unused was to be destroyed in order to safeguard everyone in the palace, but especially his husband. It was while the servants were getting rid of the many barrels of wine from the palace wine cellar, under the supervision of Mark Mardon and his soldiers, that one of the barrels had finally given away the gruesome secret it had been holding.

The naked and contorted body of William Hornsby had been found in the barrel his murderer had stuffed it in, the cause of his death clear if the odd angle of his neck was anything to go by. For as long as he lived, Len would not forget the sight of the poor young man when he had been called down to the cellars to see the grisly sight for himself. He had sternly forbidden Barry and Ronnie from coming with him and was forever glad that he had spared them this much at least.

The supervisor who had vouched for the young man the night earlier had nearly been beside himself with grief when he had been informed of the young man's fate. It only got more heartbreaking when it was revealed that Hornsby had no family living. He had simply been an innocent caught in the cross-fires, only unlike Cisco, his life had been robbed of him.

Len had declared to all Hornsby's innocence, and had taken the young man's funeral arrangements onto himself despite how much it had pained him. Leonard had made sure that Hornsby had been laid to rest beside his family in Nevar's great cemetery with all respect. He and Barry had been in attendance along with the masses, many being the servants that had been on duty the night of the Ball. Hornsby had been laid to rest, and Len and Barry's resolve in finding the monsters responsible for all of this had grown even stronger. The funeral of Hornsby had served to remind them both of just how very near to danger they themselves had come

The sound of a door opening broke Len from his sad musings, and he turned away from the window in time to see his Barry enter the living room area with Ronnie, the page dressed in a simple dark gray Tudor jacket and black leather trousers and boots, dutifully following in his wake.

The Prince Consort of Nevar was dressed in a simple light tan Tudor jacket with white trousers and knee-length dark brown boots. Over his shoulders was draped a simple chain of silver and white diamonds, with a clear teardrop diamond hanging from the center. On his left hand his wedding band glinted softly in the light while his silver signet ring and his mother's engagement ring adorned his right. He looked handsome, there was no doubt, but Len could see only the sadness his husband could not hide from him like he did the rest of the world. It made something in Len's very soul ache as he stepped away from the window to greet his husband.

The royal couple stood facing each other at arm's length, both silent as they simply took each other in. While to the rest of the world they seemed normal enough, if a little tired looking, they could not hide from each other the toll the last few days had taken on them. The spark that Barry always had was dimmed right now, his vibrant eyes now marred with sadness and worry. For all of Len's stoicism, he could not hide from Barry the slight bags under his eyes, indication of his restless and nightmare filled nights. They regarded each other in silence for many long moments, and then Len made the first move.

Ronnie remained respectfully silent, though he allowed a small, sad smile to grace his lips as he watched Len reach up and take Barry's face into his hands, gently pulling his husband towards him. Barry put up no resistance, his whole body sighing as Len pressed his lips to Barry's forehead in a sweet, lingering kiss. Barry's eyes fluttered shut while his hands went to Len's hips, lightly resting over them as he let Len's warmth wash over him. They stayed close when Len finally drew back, gazing at one another and not saying a word still. Len tried to be reassuring through his expression, running his thumb over the arch of Barry's cheek bone. Barry offered his husband a wan, brittle smile, though his eyes remained saddened as he finally broke the silence.

" We should get going." He said softly. Len nodded and they released each other, albeit reluctantly.

Ronnie followed dutifully behind the royals as Len and Barry headed out of the royal apartments, keenly feeling the absence of a certain young Marquis who should have been walking beside him directly behind Barry. Barry and Len walked hand in hand through the halls of the palace, the healing wing being their destination. Unlike how they usually went about their mornings, Barry and Len had quietly eaten breakfast earlier in their apartments. Because of what had happened, the royal kitchens had been restocked in their entirety, and was now under very strict security. As a consequence of the assassination attempt, the palace cooking staff was under the constant surveillance of Mardon's most observant soldiers, while more soldiers stood guard along the palace halls. Harrison himself would step away from a recovering Cisco to preside over the preparation of Len, Barry, and Lisa's meals, standing a tall and intimidating figure in the kitchens, watching the head chef and his helpers every move sharply when it came to the food that would be served to the Nevarian royals. Even after the food was prepared and sent, Ronnie would serve as the taster for Len and Barry while Caitlyn did the same for Lisa, the couple not hesitating at all in putting themselves on the line for their royals despite the now stringent standard. In all honesty they all hated it, treating the kitchen staff in such a manner, especially since many on said staff had served the palace for decades, but everyone knew that it was necessary given the circumstances. The kitchen staff never complained, and the head chef would always brush aside the many apologies he was given. On top of all of this, Mardon's men were also carrying out questioning of every single guest and servant at the Ball, and the number was vast and the going was slow, but the most surprising thing was that thus far no one had turned the men away and submitted to questioning without complaint.

As to the preparation of food within the palace, it was the same for Cisco as well, Harrison would be ever present and watchful over everything the kitchen's prepared for the young Marquis, and the Chief Healer and Advisor of Nevar even served as the taster for the young man, much to Cisco's shock, but gratitude as well.

These were the fruits of the as of yet unknown assassin's actions, there was fear, there was scrutiny, there was added security and the need for such services from Mark, Harrison, Ronnie and Caitlyn. It was their reality for now, Barry and Len absolutely hated it, but there was nothing they could do without being reckless with their lives. It had been with great reluctance that Len had ordered such procedures be put in place, but when it came to the safety of those he loved, especially Barry and Lisa, there wasn't much that Len was not willing to do. Barry himself had not put up nearly as much protest as Len had expected, the young man no doubt understanding the severity of the situation. It was he who had been the intended target after all, and Barry wisely did not object to his husband putting up these protective measures.

Barry and Len walked hand in hand, quickening their pace as the arched entrance to the Healing Wing came into view. The trio made quick work of getting to the private ward. Once they were there, Len, Barry, and Ronnie all found themselves genuinely smiling at the sight that greeted them.

Cisco was sitting up in bed, a few pillows helping to prop him up. He still looked a little pale and worn from his ordeal with the poison, but the color had returned to his cheeks and he was grinning vibrantly. Sitting beside him over the edge of the bed, dressed in a simple dark blue dressed and with her hair tide in a simply ponytail was Lisa, with a steaming bowl of what looked like soup in her lap and a spoon held up halfway to Cisco in her hand, and a stern look on her face. Caitlyn stood beside Lisa, dressed in a simple, soft rose colored dress and her hair falling about her shoulders in light waves. And finally, standing by the foot of Cisco's bed, ever vigilant but with a warm look on his face was Harrison, dressed in his signature black robes.

It was Cisco who caught sight of Len, Barry, and Ronnie as they approached. The trio instantly felt their melancholy from earlier dissipating at the way Cisco's grin grew wider as he spoke.

" Morning your Majesties, you guys have great timing, I need rescuing!" Cisco called. Lisa, Caitlyn, and Harrison all turned and smiled warmly as Len, Barry, and Ronnie finally reached them.

" Oh really? What do you need rescuing from my dear Marquis?" Len asked cheekily as he bent down to kiss the top of Lisa's head while Barry eagerly made his way over to Cisco and gently exchanged a hug with his recovering best friend. Lisa smiled up at her brother, her face devoid of the usual glamorous makeup in exchange for a more quieter look. In the beginning she had forgone makeup entirely, but once Cisco had regained consciousness a few days after the Ball, he had insisted she not give up herself on his account. Sure, Lisa did not go all out like she usually did, but a little kohl around her eyes and some light color on her lips had done wonders to keep her, and Cisco in good spirits. The fact that even despite his still somewhat frail state, Cisco would go out of his way to tell Lisa how gorgeous she looked every day helped make things a little easier despite the dark pall that thad settled over everything because of what had happened.

Caitlyn smiled warmly as she greeted her king and prince consort before she eagerly made her way over to Ronnie, sharing quick kiss with her husband before they rejoined everyone.

" From the broth her Highness is trying to feed me my King, the blandness of it should be illegal." Cisco replied, while Barry chuckled where he stood beside Cisco, marveling in the simple pleasure of seeing his best friend alive and on the mend.

Len chuckled and sent Cisco a sympathetic look as he spoke.

" Sorry Cisco but you are flat out of luck, we all heard what Harrison told you." Len said, and then as one, everyone else began to speak.

" Nothing solid, no ifs, ands, or buts until your insides are healed."

" Yes indeed. It'll be broth or light soup until I deem otherwise." Harrison said firmly, though he sent Cisco a warm look. Cisco gave an exaggerated sigh and deflated as he nodded his head.

" Yes Lord Wells." He said before he straightened up and gave everyone his best smile.

" If that's the case you better finish the rest of this while it's still hot." Lisa said as she picked up a fresh spoonful of the broth Cisco had been complaining about and held it out to her fiancé.

" As you wish." Cisco said with a smile to Lisa as he parted his lips and accepted the offering.

As Lisa resumed feeding Cisco his light breakfast, Barry silently made his way over to Len's side, the both of them feeling their spirits significantly lifted at the sight of Lisa tending to her fiancé so lovingly.

Leaving Lisa and Cisco to their banter, Len gestured to Harrison and together with Barry the three of them stepped aside so that they could talk quietly.

" How is he doing Harrison?" Barry asked immediately, his concern for his friend evident.

" He's recovering, slowly but surely. I have already started to lessen the dosage of antidote he's taking and the herbs meant to promote his internal healing from all the bleeding he suffered are working. There has been no residual bleeding thus far. I am hopeful that he's be able to slowly start having solid food again within the next couple of weeks." Harrison replied with a reassuring look.

Barry sent Harrison a look of raw gratitude that had the Chief Healer almost ducking his head, while Len nodded and reached out, gliding a soothing hand over his husband's back. There was a beat of silence before Harrison leaned in closer and spoke in a hushed tone.

" If I may ask, when is everyone from Central Kingdom due to arrive my King?" He asked quietly.

" They should be getting here a little after noon." Len replied just as secretively.

Barry smiled sadly as he reached out and took Len's hand, squeezing it tightly to convey his gratitude.

Unbeknownst to Cisco and Lisa, almost immediately after Harrison had gladly told them that the young man was going to pull through, Len had dispatched Mark to make the three day ride to Central Kingdom to inform not only Cisco's mother and older of what happened to their youngest son, but also Joe, Iris, and Eddie. He had specifically instructed Mark not to reveal the true nature of the situation, that Barry had been the actual target, just that Cisco had been poisoned but alive and recovering.

Len had done this because he wanted to tell Barry and Cisco's families the truth face to face, especially his father-in-law King Joseph West, and after the harrowing event itself, Len wanted to bring to both Cisco and Barry their families who were so very far away.

Harrison nodded in approval and then the three of them headed back to Cisco. After a good twenty minutes, Len had to take his leave, the council was waiting for him after all. Before he took his leave, Len pulled Barry aside so that they stood by the entrance to the private ward as Len spoke.

" I'll come and get you later." Len said as he reached out and cupped Barry's cheek. Barry leaned into the caress and nodded, the both of them sharing a look since they were privy to just what Len would be retrieving Barry for later in the day.

Barry leaned in and pressed his lips to Len, the latter melting into the sweet kiss.

" I love you Len." Barry whispered softly, and looking so painfully young that it made Len's throat feel a little tight as he nodded and replied.

" I love you too Barry." He said just as softly before he leaned in this time, pressing his lips to Barry's, taking a moment to simply feel how warm, and very much _alive_ they were against his own before he forced himself to withdraw.

Len took his leave then, his eyes lingering on his husband as Barry made his way back to Cisco's bedside, the Prince nodding to Ronnie who took his leave of Caitlyn and joined Len. Together, Len and Ronnie left the Healing Wing and headed for the council chamber, for while it was true that the entire kingdom had been covered by the dark pall of what had happened on the Solstice night, Len was still King and he along with others still had jobs to do and a kingdom to run.

Once Len was seated on his throne, he was warmed when the members of the council, sans Harrison who was taking on only healer's duties today, had asked after Cisco. Len assured them that Cisco was doing well this morning. After that, the second most senior advisor, Lord Jeremy Tell stepped forward with the morning report in hand. Len settled in to listen, wondering at what todays complaints and progress would be.

For the most part things were alright, the items Lord Tell read out were mostly regarding public areas within the city that needed repair, or requests for supplies from merchants and tinkers. But when Lord Tell read out a report from Lord Samuel Scudder, Len found himself sitting up in his throne and listening with interest.

" My King, the Lord Scudder is happy, but a little bit ill-at-ease to report that whatever has been making several heads of his cattle disappear seems to have stopped over the course of this week." Lord Tell declared.

There was a murmur through the council, many pleased, other's questioning. Len raised his hand, and the room instantly fell silent as he spoke.

" Has Lord Scudder given his reason why he is ill-at ease?" Len asked.

" Well my King, he has done more than that, he has written to you personally." Lord Tell replied before he stepped over to one of the tables and picked up a small white envelope baring Lord Scudder's seal in red wax.

Lord Tell stepped forward and handed the letter to Len, who gave he envelope a once over before he tucked it inside the inner pocket of his fur-lined over jacket. Len nodded to Lord Tell and then gestured for the advisor to continue.

Lord Tell looked back to the scroll in his hand to see what the next, and immediately sighed a little before he could stop himself. Lord Tell looked up and sent Len an apologetic look that had the King instantly feeling ill-at- ease before he read out the next item on the list.

" My King, the next item on the list comes from Lord James Jesse." The moment the name was uttered, the whole room seemed to almost sigh in exasperation.

Many of the advisors could not hold back their groans, and Len found himself sinking further down into his throne, looking upwards towards the ceiling in an effort to keep himself from just dropping everything and running.

Using every ounce of experience and control he had, Len sat up straight and gestured for Lord Tell to continue with what he was sure was a very lengthy list of both petty complaints and outlandish demands.

If it were possible, the already dreary winter day just got worse.

Slowly but surely, Len and the council got through the morning reports and complaints of the kingdom, Len being very diplomatic in his way of once again quashing Lord Jesse. With his mood being what it was, it took all Len had not to simply order someone to send Lord Jesse a simple note telling the old man, no begging him to simply enjoy his golden years doing something more productive, like charity work or a new hobby, and to please, please stop sending list after list of complaint and demand that would never be fulfilled.

Once the morning meeting was over, Len took his leave with Ronnie. A look at the clock told the king that the hour of Cisco and Barry's families' imminent arrival was approaching. Len was both looking forward to surprising Cisco, but also dreading having to face both the young Marquis' parents and his own father-in-law. As he walked towards his private study, Len felt a fresh wave of self-recrimination wash over him and what he perceived to be his failure to protect his family. Despite all of the reassurances from Barry, Len still thought so poorly of himself and the incident. On top of that, while he was relieved beyond words that Cisco was alright, that he was going to pull through from the poisoning, Len found a part of himself could barely look at the young man without wanting the ground to swallow him up. He felt so guilty about what happened, and his instincts as an older brother only made the guilt worse, for he counted Cisco as a friend, and pretty soon the young man would be his brother-in-law. What kind of brother was he to have nearly let Cisco die on his watch?

As he entered his study, Len quickly banished such thoughts and reached into his pocket for the personal letter that Lord Samuel Scudder had written him.

" Ronnie, I could use a hot drink, could you go and ask the kitchens for some hot chocolate?" Len asked with a tiny, lightly bashful grin as he took a seat at his desk.

" As you wish my king, and shall I ask them to put some of that special cream liqueur from mama's dairy?" Ronnie asked, referring to the special cream liqueur that Caitlyn's mother produced exclusively for the palace on the dairy farm she owned and operated.

" Good man." Len said with approval, Ronnie smiling and nodding before he headed out of the King's study to get Len's requested drink.

Once he was alone, Len let out a small groan and collapsed back against the carved chair he sat in, allowing himself to feel just how tired he was, the nightmare filled nights, the worry, the anger and most definitely the helplessness all churning up inside him now that he was in solitude. Len did not let the exhaustion drape over him for long, quickly pushing it aside as he remembered the letter from Lord Scudder. Len broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter, setting about in reading it. The letter read as followed.

 _Your most Gracious Majesty,_

 _I am most pleased and relieved to hear that the young Marquis Ramon has survived the attempt on his life. Why anyone would think to hurt one so young and one who has adopted our kingdom as his home is beyond me. Be that as it may, I write to you personally to convey that I am not at all at ease with the happens on my land, my King. As you know by now, my cows have not dwindled in number throughout this entire week. While I am relieved at this, I am also quiet wary for you see my King, whatever or whoever has been taking my livestock still remains a large._

 _Despite the trackers you were so gracious enough to send to my farmlands my King, there was no trace of any animal, nor of any human miscreants to be found. The mystery remains. On top of that, and do forgive me if I seem a little_ _paranoid, for this entire ordeal has truly robbed me of my peace of mind, these strange disappearances stopped just after the Winter Solstice Ball, I came home expecting my foreman to be standing at the door telling me that another five head of cattle have come up missing from the barns, instead he reports on that night that all are accounted for. I do not know if there is a connection, but even to this old mind it seems a bit too suspicious to be mere coincidence._

 _I know not if this apprehension of mine is well founded, or just the stress getting to me, but I simply wished for you to know my King, and to also let you know that I am willing to aid you in any way that I am able in finding whatever devil or trickster is responsible for what happened to the young Marquis. I may not know him well my king, but after the ball, and the bravery I saw in him when he was facing you head on in asking for her Highness Princess Lisa's hand, and your declaration that he is her fiancé, I can gather that he is family, your family. Someone dared to strike at your family my King, and I just wanted you to know that I am not only your faithful subject, but your ally, as are many in the nobility, and they share my sentiment. We are with you and his majesty Prince Bartholomew._

 _Be well and safe my King._

 _Ever your faithful subject,_

 _Samuel Scudder, Lord of Miren Hall._

Len let the letter fall from his hands onto his desk, letting out a shaky breath for he was indeed greatly moved by Lord Scudder's words. He felt gratitude course through him at Scudder's words of loyalty and respect. It made something in Len that had been aching ease a bit, knowing that subjects like Lord Scudder still looked upon him favorably. If only he could let go of his own guilt about what happened.

Len sat up and quickly composed himself, picking Lord Scudder's letter back up and skimming over it again just as Ronnie walked in with a glass mug of steaming hot chocolate just as the king had asked for. Ronnie set the drink down in front of his king before he took a seat in the chair beside the desk.

Len thanked Ronnie and then proceeded to take some light sips of the drink, enjoying the warms it spread through him. The king had it in mind to take up quill and parchment to write back to Lord Scudder, but as he continued to skim over the letter, Len suddenly felt a jolt rock through him to his very core as something Harrison had mentioned in his explanation regarding the horrific poison that had been used to try to kill his husband suddenly came to the forefront of his mind.

Harrison had mention that this poison was made by combining several highly poisonous plants and distillation through the stomach of an animal, like a goat... or a cow.

" Your majesty, are you alright?" Ronnie asked in concern when he noticed the slightly wide-eyed look of realization that graced his king's face. Len looked to Ronnie and spoke.

" Ronnie I think I just figured something out." He said cryptically. Then Len's face quickly morphed into a look of quiet determination as he continued.

" Ronnie, please go to the royal records room, I would like all of Lord Samuel Scudder's reports regarding his missing cattle, starting from the first incident. Bring me everything."

" You will my King." Ronnie said with a nod before he strode of quickly to do what he king asked of him, although he could not help but feel just a little confused by the request.

Once he was alone again, Len took a big gulp of the hot chocolate, which had a liberal amount of the alcoholic cream liqueur in it mind you, and let it warm him and help him calm down from his initial jolt of understanding. Len took a deep breath and then reached for the quill and paper, though not to write a letter, but to jot down some notes while he waited. It gave him something to do, and once he researched the records and added to his theory he could go and discuss his suspicions with Barry and Harrison.

About ten minute later, Ronnie was returning with several rolls of parchment in hand. Once the Page had deposited the rolls onto the king's desk, Len spoke.

" Alright Ronnie, grab some of these reports and let's get to work."

Ronnie did as instructed, taking some of the parchment rolls and unfurling them.

" What am I looking for your majesty?" He asked as he looked over the reports regarding Samuel Scudder's lands.

" Starting chronologically, I want to know the number of cows that started to go missing from Lord Scudder's herds." Len replied.

Together Len and Ronnie worked to first organize the reports chronologically, a staggering total spanning three months. Then Len tasked Ronnie with reading through them starting with the first. As Ronnie read out the information, Len started to write down a list.

" Alright, this first report says that the total number of cows that went missing on the first night was exactly three, all females."

Ronnie kept on reading the numbers off the reports, and it was always more or less the same, two or three cows going missing over the weeks. But about halfway through the reports, there was a change in the number. , where two or three suddenly became four or five and continued up until the last incident the week before the Winter Solstice Ball.

" My King, what does this all mean?" Ronnie asked. Len finished his now lukewarm hot chocolate and then sighed as he went about explaining.

" I don't really know Ronnie, but after reading Lord Scudder's letter about how the disappearances of his cattle had stopped over this past week, but he found it all suspicious since it stopped happening right after the ball got me thinking, what if there is a connection?" Ronnie sat up a little straighter in interest.

" Is there one your majesty?" Len could only shrug.

" I can't say definitively, only that I remember Harrison saying something about the poison, how part of the process of making it is distilling it through the stomach of an animal, and all of these cows have disappeared without thus far. What if that reason is that whoever tried to poison my husband has been using Lord Scudder's animals to make the poison?"

Ronnie nodded before his brow knitted.

" How many cows would someone need to make the poison anyway?" He asked.

Len was about to answer that he had no idea himself when there was a light knock on the door to his study.

" Enter." Len called.

The door to the study opened and a young man dressed in armor walked in and bowed. It was Mark Mardon's second in command, the one in charge with Mark off on assignment, Captain Roy G. Bivolo.

" Captain Bivolo, what brings you here?" Len asked as he and Ronnie rose from their seats.

" My King, Lord Raymond." Bivolo began my way of greeting before he continued, and what he had to report sent waves of both relief and dread through the King of Nevar.

" Pardon me if I have interrupted you my King, but word has just arrived from the outermost watch towers, General Mardon returns and brings with him two carriages no doubt carrying the families of his highness Prince Bartholomew, and his Grace the Marquis Ramon, along with a small regiment of guards wearing the colors of Central Kingdom."

Ronnie found himself smiling sadly while Len tapped into that famous stoicism of his as he spoke, though his heart was racing.

" When are they estimated to arrive Captain?" He asked firmly.

" Fifteen to twenty minutes my King, as per your orders Mardon leads them not along the main path through the city, but on the private path through the Eastern forrest. Our guards are posted along the route and remain ever vigilant."

" Thank you Captain Bivolo, Prince Bartholomew and I will be out to greet them shortly." Len said, all the while feeling his stomach twist itself into knots out of nervousness.

" Your will my King." Bivolo said with another quick bow before he turned and left swiftly to get the men ready to greet the incoming royals of Central Kingdom, along with Cisco's family, who were members of the nobility as well.

Once Bivolo was gone, Ronnie quickly went about gathering up the many incident reports regarding Lord Scudder's cattle that were strewn over Len's desk, while Len quickly folded up the notes he had written and along with Lord Scudder's letters, put them inside his inner jacket pocket, not wanting to forget them. Once they had themselves in order, Len sent Ronnie off to discreetly fetch Barry under the guise of the King merely wishing to see his husband in private while Len himself made his way swiftly towards the grand staircase that let to the foyer and great front doors of the palace.

(Author's note: Please try listening to, " The World is Safe" by Audio Machine during this part).

Len stood at the top of the grand marble staircase, gazing out at the great doors that stoop several yards away still closed. The foyer of the palace entrance hall was quiet, a stillness over everything, even the armored guards that stood along the long blue carpet that led to the doors. Len stood there twisting his wedding band around his left ring finger, the only outward indication he allowed to show his nervousness. In his mind he wondered just how he was going to face Joe, and also Cisco's mom. Both of their sons were under his protection, one had been poisoned almost fatally, while the other, his spouse, had been the intended target.

Len was so lost in his dread-filled musings that he started lightly when a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, pulling him back against a warm chest, while sift lips pressed a soft kiss to his temple. Len was instantly relaxing against Barry, reaching up and covering his husband's hands with his own.

" You snuck up on me Kid." Len said as he looked at Barry out the corner of his eye, feeling Barry's lips smiling against his temple.

" It wasn't hard since your mind was miles away my King." Barry replied, before he lowered his head and started pressing kisses down the side of Len's. Len let his eyes flutter shut and simply enjoy the feeling. Barry made his way to the side of Len's, pressing a final kiss there before he reluctantly drew away.

Len turned so that he could face Barry fully, and took a moment to simple take his spouse in, it may have been only a couple of hours since they parted way at the Healing Wing, but Len could not help but want to memorize every detail he saw before him. From the way Barry's chain rested, to the tiny mole on his left cheek. But it was went Len looked into those deep hazel green eyes, saw the apprehension Barry was trying to hide, that Len finally spoke.

" Barry what's wrong?" He asked as he stepped closer.

Barry smiled wanly and then shrugged, staying silent for a beat before his face crumbled a little.

" Kid?" Len said as he reached up and took Barry's face into his hand, feeling the light tremor that was wracking his husband.

" I don't know why, I should be happy that everybody's coming, that they'll be here soon but I just... I feel..." Barry trailed off, but Len didn't need him to finish in order to understand what his husband was feeling. Overwhelmed and deeply scared. Len just sighed and pulled Barry to him.

They clung to each other, a rare moment of letting the veneer of calm collectedness and composure they had been keeping up for the past week crumble.

" They aren't even here yet and I am falling apart." Barry said with a watery huff against Len's shoulder.

" Why Barry? They're going to be so glad to see you." Len said against Barry's hair, doing all he could to ease the younger man's trembling.

" This all happened because of me Len, Cisco's mom and brother don't know that yet, how am I going to face them?" Barry asked quietly as he drew back from Len a little so that they were face to face. To his credit Barry didn't burst into tears or even hitch a breath, instead he kept his composure for the most part, but his eyes brimmed with tears. Len sighed and deflated at his husband's despair and shook his head as he cupped the side of Barry's neck and spoke.

" No Barry, you've been telling me how none of this is my fault haven't you? So why are you putting this on you? This didn't happen because of you, this happened because someone was evil enough to do this to us. Cisco's mom and dad aren't going to blame you for what happened." Barry shook his head sadly.

" But it was my cup Len-" Len quickly cut him off.

" That doesn't mean it's your fault." Len said firmly as he gazed at Barry with hard eyes, the pair holding each other's gaze for a long moment. From where he stood at a respectful distance, Ronnie watched on in sad silence, absolutely hating that his king and prince were going through all of this, but then he remembered that the arrival of Barry and Cisco's families was fast approaching.

Stepping forward, Ronnie spoke.

" Your Majesties."

Barry and Len both turned their gazes to Ronnie, who looked back at them apologetically as he spoke.

" Forgive my intrusion, but the party from Central Kingdom is due to arrive any minute."

Len and Barry both understood what Ronnie meant, that they should all be out there ready to greet Barry and Cisco's families as respect required.

" Thank you Ronnie." Barry said, sending the Page a warm smile before he and Len quickly composed themselves and walked down the grand staircase hand in hand, with Ronnie dutifully following behind them.

As the rulers of Nevar made their way up the long blue aisle that led towards the front doors of the palace, the guards flanking either side of the bleu aisle bowing in perfect syntonization as Barry and Len passed them by. When the royals were about halfway down the aisle there was a loud clank followed by a low, steady groan as the great carved doors up ahead of them slowly opened inward and fell away to reveal the outside word. A gust of chilly winter air gently buffeted Len, Barry, and Ronnie, but it was more pleasant and soothing to their nerves rather than bitter. Besides that, their wardrobe was appropriately crafted from thicker fabrics and held most of the cold at bay.

Len and Barry came to stand on the flat, white marble top of the small set of stairs that led down to the gravel path that led to the main gates of the palace. The Iron and silver gates were open and waiting for the procession set to arrive, but as per Len's orders, there would be no trumpets or fan fair, both to keep Cisco and Lisa in the dark, and because this was not a very happy visit.

As they waited, Len wordlessly tightened his hold on Barry's hand, the younger man squeezing back while their eyes remained fixed on the palace gates. The minutes ticked by with agonizing slowness, but then Len and Barry both felt a rush of relief and anticipation as the distant sounds of hoofbeats grew steadily louder until a familiar, beautiful dapple grey stallion was galloping through the palace gates. Riding atop the stallion was General Mark Mardon, dressed in his silver armor and Indigo cape with the Nevarian Snowflake emblem emblazoned on it. The stubble he had left with three days ago was now a light beard and mustache over his lips and chin.

Following close behind Mardon where two elegant carriages of red and gold, with the Central Kingdom sunburn emblem panted on the doors, being pulled by elegant coffee-colored stallions. Riding along side and behind these carriages were some of Central Kingdom's cavalry guardsmen, all dressed in golden armor, and red capes. The cavalry guards pulled back and rejoined their fellows at the back of the last carriage once they were on the place grounds.

Barry felt his heart pounding against his sternum, while Len heard his blood roaring in his ears as they watched Mardon lead the carriages towards them. A few minutes felt like an eternity, Len and Barry stood frozen to the spot as Mark finally pulled his stallion to a halt and smoothly dismounted, the carriages stopping right behind him, and the contingency of Central Kingdom guards halting a few feet behind them in two straight lines of horses and riders.

Mardon smoothly dismounted from his stallion and made his way up the front steps to greet his king and Prince. The General bowed low and smiled at them despite his tears.

" One Central Kingdom family delivered safe and sound, as promised." Mark said, earning a quiet chuckle from Len and a smile from Barry.

" Thank you for your service my General." Len said as he reached out and clasped arms with Mark, who nodded as he spoke.

" It was my honor. How is he is I may ask?" Barry smiled as he spoke.

" He's well on the mend, Harrison expects Cisco's going to make a full recovery." Mark's tired face lit up at that as he reached out and clasped hands with Barry as well before bowing one more time and then stepping past them to stand beside Ronnie, greeting the other man warmly.

The rulers of Nevar grew somber quickly though when they remembered the other arrivals to their kingdom besides their dear General. Barry and Len stepped forward still hand in hand, and in complete silence as they watched the two footmen for the first carriage smoothly climb down from their seats and with all professionalism open the door facing the stairs and lowered the carriage steps before standing to attention of either side. Barry clenched his jaw tightly in an effort to keep it from trembling visibly as he watched Joe step out first, looking somber and seeming to have aged a decade. The king of Central Kingdom was dressed in a deep brown Tudor jacket with a heavy fur-lined coat over it of the same hue, black trousers and dark brown boots adorning his feet, and a simple chain of gold and rubies draped over his shoulder. It was simple, somber outfit, yet still elegant and befitting of a king. Once Joe's eyes landed on Barry and Len, he just stood there and gazed at them silently, his dark eyes conveying so much without him saying a word. There was relief and love, mixed with sadness and worry in those eyes, and it made something in Len just ache, for it was something he never really had directed at him before.

Fatherly love, plain and simple.

The moment was broken as Joe turned and held out his hand to the next person to come out of the carriage. Barry could not hold back the tear that slipped free this time as Iris, his beloved sister came into few, climbed out of the carriage, clutching their father's hand. She was dressed in a simple purple dress with a light silver filigree over it. Over the dress, Iris wore a beautiful white fur cloak. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun instead of flowing about her shoulders, adding to her already somber look. Her eyes were red-rimmed, clear sign that she had been shedding tears already. When her eyes fell on Len and Barry, her hand immediately went to her mouth as she smiled at them tearfully. Barry and Len both smiled back at her, glad beyond words to see her.

Movement behind Iris had Barry and Len looking in time to see the final member of Barry's Central Kingdom family climb of of the carriage. Dressed in a simple blue Tudor jacket that look heavy and warm for the winter, and with a chain of woven silver draped around his shoulder, Eddie looked handsome as ever, but his face was somber as he stepped down from the carriage and joined his wife and father-in-law. When his blue eyes finally fell on Barry and Len, some of the somberness immediately left his feature, his blue eyes growing warm with relief and even a bit over bright as he too gave them a small, sad smile that was a ghost of his normal easy grin.

Barry and Len watched as Joe spoke to Iris and Eddie before turning away and walking towards the other carriage that no doubt held Cisco's family.

But they could not really focus on that as Iris and Eddie were rushing up the stairs towards them. Iris was the first to reach them, throwing her arms over both Barry and Len, hugging them tightly. Barry and Len put up no resistance as they hugged her back just as fiercely, for it was well established that she was their sister, and not just Barry's. When Iris finally drew back several long moments later, Barry and Len found themselves being pulled into another set of arms, this time belonging to Eddie Thawne. Len had been expecting perhaps a handshake and a quick hug, not the full on, rather tight embrace. And from the light sniffling Len and Barry could here coming from him, Eddie was no better than Iris. When Eddie finally drew back and wiped at his eyes, Iris came forward and spoke.

" Are you guys okay?" She asked quietly as she accepted the handkerchief Len pulled out from one of his pockets and held out to her, using it to wipe at her tearful eyes.

" Better now that you guys are here." Barry said truthfully, sending Len a subtle, apologetic look. Len just reached out and gripped Barry's shoulder, squeezing it hard and sending his husband what he hoped was a reassuring look.

Movement behind Eddie and Iris had Len and Barry looking past them in time to see Joe gently leading a beautiful, petite raven haired woman up the steps whileq somber looking young man followed then. The woman was no doubt Cisco's mother with the same expressive dark eyes as Cisco and tears already running down her face. She was dressed simple in a dark blue dress with a matching winter cloak over it, wiping at her eyes with a handkerchief and looking heartbroken in a way that only a mother could. The young man following the woman was Cisco's older brother Dante, with his face drawn and pale with worry. He was still handsome, dressed in a simple light chocolate brown Tudor jacket and white trousers with knee high boots.

Eddie and Iris wordlessly stepped aside, leaving Barry and Len to face Joe and Mrs. Ramon. There was a long beat of charged silence where the royal couple of Nevar stood facing Joe and Cisco's mother. Then as one, Len and Barry were bowing to the senior king, along with Ronnie from where he stood a few steps back.

" King West, you honor us with your presence." Len said, using every ounce of will he had to keep his voice steady, while Barry found he couldn't even speak.

When they straightened back up, both men felt their hearts lurch at the look of silent anguish on Joe's face. There was another beat and then Joe let go of Mrs. Ramon's hands and slowly raised his arms. In an instant the tension was broken as Barry all but ran forward into his father's arm's and clung to the older man. Joe's breath hitched as he held Barry to him, letting touch reassure him that his son was alright. Len stood where he was, eying the bittersweet reunion between father and son, and wondering how he was ever going to face Joe once his father-in-law got to know of what was really going on, what had nearly happened to Barry.

Len was startled out of his dread-filled thoughts when he was suddenly pulled forward by the arm. The next thing he knew, Len felt an arm wrap around him and hold him tightly. Len felt his stoicism crack as he realized that Joe had pulled him into an embrace alongside Barry, hugging them both with equal fervor. Barry could not suppress the hitched that rose up inside him, while Len allowed himself to be held and hugged Joe back, the gesture from his father-in-law like a soothing balm to his very soul. Len held onto this feeling as long as he could, wondering if Joe would be turning him into a bloody pulp once the King of Central Kingdom found out the truth.

" Are you both alright?" Joe asked quietly as he finally pulled back, holding both Barry and Len by the shoulder at arm's length.

" Y-Yeah Joe I am okay, Len's with me." Barry said thickly, turning his head so that he could smile at his husband, who had a startled look on his face at Barry's words.

" And you?" Joe asked as he too turned to gaze at Len.

Len looked at Joe, doing his best not to avert his gaze, he parted his lips and was about to give Joe the typical answer, that he was fine. But then he meet those dark eyes, saw the genuine concern in them and decided to speak truthfully.

" Not really sir." Len said simply with a small shake of his head and allowing his sadness to show through.

Eddie wrapped his arm around Iris' shoulders, his wife's face growing pained at Len's quiet admission. A light sniffling had Joe, Len, and Barry looking to the source, Mrs. Ramon. She stood with her husband and older son flanking her. Her tears had not abated.

Joe stepped forward and held out his hand to the lady, Cisco's mother sending hims grateful look as she accepted it and came forward.

" Lady Ramon, allow me to introduce you to my son-in-law, Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, King of Nevar. And of course Barry." Joe said, pride in his eyes despite the situation.

Len stepped forward, doing his best to remain composed as he addressed Cisco's mother.

" I am honored to finally meet you my lady, I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances." Len said somberly as he held out his hand to the lady.

" Your Majesty." Lady Ramon said softly as she accepted Len's hand, eying Len warmly as the King bent down and pressed a kiss to the hand he held.

When they pulled back from each other, Lady Ramon's face turn up in a watery smile as she stepped forward and held out her arms to Barry, who all but fell into them as he hugged the woman who was more or less an aunt to him.

" I'm so glad you guys are here Aunt Toni." Barry said against Lady Ramon's shoulder. Her full name was Antonia Elizabetha Ramon.

As Barry and Antonia embraced, Joe went about introducing Len to Cisco's father and older brother.

" It is an honor to meet you your Majesty." Cisco's brother said with a wan smile as he and Len shook hands.

" Likewise Lord Ramon." Len said with a brittle smile of his own. After their father's death, Dante became the next Lord over the estate, while Cisco remained a Marquis.

" Please take me to my baby boy your Highness." She said softly, almost pleading.

" Your will my lady." Len said somberly before he held out his arm for Antonia to take. With a hitched breath Antonia all but clung to Len as he swiftly moved forward into the palace, Dante immediately following after them. Ronnie and Mark followed after the Dante and then Barry followed with his family, Joe, Iris, and Eddie all surrounding him and bombarding him with questions about how Cisco was doing, and just what the hell happened a week ago. Barry staved off on giving them any answers about the night, but assured them that Cisco was indeed on the mend.

" How is my son now your majesty?" Antonia asked, the firm, solid presence of Len by her side working to calm her threadbare nerves as they all made their way up the grand staircase and then down one of the main halls towards the Healing Wing.

" My Head Physician, Lord Harrison Wells, has tended to him every since this attack happened. He was able to find an antidote and administered it in time before there was any lasting damage to Cisco. Just this morning Harrison informed me that Cisco had recovered enough to where he says that he will be slowly cutting back on the dosages of antidote and healing medicine your son is taking. He is still recovering, and the ordeal has left him weakened, but all willing Cisco will make a full recovery."

There were relieved looks all around at this, before Dante spoke.

" King Leonard, thank you so much for taking care of my brother, we are in your debt." He said with a look of gratitude.

" Please, I will hear no such talk. You owe me nothing, it was Harrison and Barry who tended to Cisco and gave him the medicine in time to save his life." Len said in earnest.

" That may be true, but you're the one who hoisted Cisco over your shoulders and carried him all the way from the Great Hall to the Healing Wing when the poison took effect. You ran as fast as you could. Me and Harrison could not have treated him as fast as we did without you Husband." Barry said firmly from where he walked behind Dante, eying his husband with deep love and pride, and perhaps even a little bit of sternness for Len not giving himself enough credit for the monumental part he played in saving Cisco.

All other eyes turned to Len, Antonia and Dante eying the King of Nevar in wonder, while Joe eyed his son-in-law with a proud look on his face, and finally, Eddie and Iris were both smiling in admiration. Len felt several powerful emotions well up inside him, the negative warring viciously with the positive. On the one hand, he was warmed that Barry thought what he did was heroic, but on the other he just wanted to curl up and die because it only brought back in full force what he perceived was his 'failure' to protect those he loved.

Len ducked his head and didn't say anything, straightening back up as the archway of the Healing Wing came. Len turned to everyone.

" Everyone, he's in the private wing, we didn't tell him that you guys were coming. Wanted to surprise him. I hope you are not offended." Len said looking a little apologetic.

There were nods of acceptance, Antonia's face loosing some of it's sadness as excitement at the prospect of surprising her youngest child after the trauma he had to go through uplifted her spirits. Len covered Antonia's hand on his arm as he led the way into the Healing Wing, taking them down the long aisle flanked on either side by the immaculately made hospital beds. Once they were at the entrance to the Private Wing, Len peaked in and found himself smiling, because there a few feet away Cisco was on his feet, taking a few ginger steps with Lisa gripping his arm in support on one side, and Harrison walking with him on his other side. Lisa was smiling brightly as she pressed a kiss to Cisco's cheek, looking more relaxed than Len had seen her all week.

See that the three were all distracted, Len turned back to Cisco's mother and older brother, smiling warmly at them the ing gestured for them to head in.

" Thank you your Majesty." Dante said as he briefly shook Len's hand before he and Antonia.

Barry hurried to Len's side, Joe, Iris, Eddie, Mark, and Ronnie doing the same, all of them hanging back and watching from the entrance.

Lisa, Cisco, and Harrison were focused on Cisco taking his first steps out of bed in days, so it was Caitlyn that noticed the new arrivals in the Private Wing. She was at first confused as to who they were, and why the pretty lady was crying, but as she looked closer, Caitlyn felt her heart jolt in realization. Ronnie had told her that Cisco's family was coming today and the resemblance Cisco had to these two people was undeniable. Resisting the urge to just cry out in joy, instead Caitlyn smiled to the three and then quietly made her way over to Lisa, Cisco, and Harrison.

" Hey Cisco, you have some visitors." Caitlyn said suddenly with a grin.

Lisa, Cisco, and Harrison all paused and looked first to Caitlyn and then forward. When his eyes fell on just who his visitors were, a gasp escaped him before he could stop himself.

" Mama, Hermano?!" Cisco cried, his face breaking out into a disbelieving grin. Lisa gasped as well, her eyes going wide in astonishment because she had been kept in the dark as well about Cisco's family coming to Nevar. Harrison smiled broadly as he placed a steadying hand on Cisco's back, ever the watchful healer.

" Mijo!" Antonia sob as she ran forwards with her arms held out.

Lisa and Harrison released their holds on Cisco but remained close, watching on with Lisa growing misty-eyed as Cisco stepped forward on only slightly unsteady feet to meet his tearful mother.

When she just about reached her child, Antonia slowed down and gently pulled Cisco into her arms, sobbing loudly and without shame.

" Mama." Cisco said against Antonia's shoulder, squeezing her back just as tightly.

A hand on his head had him looking up and seeing the smiling, tearful face of his brother.

" Hey Dante." Cisco greeted warmly.

" He little man." Dante replied. Cisco chuckled as he reached out and pulled Dante to him, all the hurts and petty squabbles of the past forgotten at the moment as the brothers came together.

Lisa quietly stepped past the reunited Ramon family and into the waiting arms of Len and Barry.

" So this is what you sent Mark off to do." Lisa said with a knowing smile and over bright eyes.

Len just gave Lisa a squeeze before Lisa finally noticed that it was not just Cisco's family that had arrived.

" Oh my God, you guys came too?" Lisa asked as she and Iris rushed towards each other first.

" Of course we did, had to make sure you guys were all okay." Iris said with a smile and she and Lisa hugged each other tightly. Once Iris and Lisa let go of each other, Eddie stepped forward, sweetly kissing Lisa on the cheeks and giving her a hug before drawing back and wrapping an arm around a tearful Iris, smiling warmly at her but with sadness in his eyes.

Then Lisa's eyes fell on Joe and it was here that the Princess' face finally crumbled a little. Joe wasted no time in gathering Lisa into his arms, his instincts as a parent in overdrive after Mark had shown up three days ago and informed them of what had happened.

" It's alright Lisa, we're all here for you. Everything's going to be alright." Joe said in reassurance while Lisa nodded against his shoulder.

She didn't know whether Joe, Iris, and Eddie had been informed about the true nature of her relationship with Cisco, or what what really happened on the night of the Solstice Ball, so she decided not to breach the subject just yet. Instead she allowed herself to simply take in the warm comfort Joe was so easily offering. The Antonia's concerned voice had Lisa and everyone else turning their attention back to where Cisco was with his mother and brother.

" Mijo!."

Lisa was running to Cisco's side in an instant, her fiancé having gone a bit pale and unsteady. Harrison came forward as well, looking serious as he spoke.

" Alright, that is enough exercise, back to bed." He ordered.

Antonia and Dante shared a look as they eyed Lisa curiously, wondering who the beautiful brunette was, but said nothing as Antonia and Lisa together got Cisco back to bed. Once he was under the covered, everyone else gathered around his bed.

" Oh my God, King West you guys came too?" Cisco asked, wanting to sit back up and properly greet his best friends family, but Joe gently pushed him back down with a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.

" Of course Cisco, we had to come and see you and Barry. I am so glad that you're alright." Joe said with a relieved smile.

" Thanks to King Leonard, Barry, and Lord Wells."

Len ducked his head while Barry smiled with a light flush to his features at the praise, while Harrison smiled in approval of them both. Iris and Eddie then stepped forward to properly greet Cisco, they too conveying how glad they were that he was alright.

Cisco's face lit up again when he caught sight of his buddy Mark Mardon. The young Marquis shared a quick hug with the general, Mardon being careful since he was still in his armor. He waved off Cisco's profuse "thank you's" for bringing his family here to Nevar and instead just told the young man that he was glad that Cisco was recovery. If the General of Nevar looked a little emotional and reached up to wipe something from his eye as he stepped back, no one said anything.

As everyone gathered around Cisco, Joe, Iris, and Eddie now asking the young man how he was doing, Antonia and Dante were both eying Lisa with interest. Though she was loath to part with her son, Antonia got up and quietly stepped over to where Lisa stood and spoke. The two women eyes each other, Lisa feeling a bit nervous under Antonia's dark, expressive eyes. It was Antonia who spoke first.

" I beg your pardon my Darling, but is your name Lisa by chance?" She asked as Dante came up behind his mother, a curious look on his face.

" Y-Yes Lady Ramon, I'm Lisa." Lisa replied, her eyes immediately going to Cisco who suddenly looked a little wide-eyed, like he was just remember something he forgot to mention.

Everyone watched as Antonia's face broke out into a grin as she reached out and gently cupped Lisa's cheek as she spoke.

" Mijo wrote letters to us, telling us that he was seeing someone and that it was serious enough to where he was thinking about settling down with her. He said he would send me a portrait but I must say, I do not think it would have done you justice my Dear, you are exquisite."

Lisa had to duck her head as her cheeks flushed at the praise she was receiving, while everyone else around them smiled at the warm meeting. Len smiled for sure, but he also couldn't help the nagging feeling that Lady Ramon was not as well informed about just who exactly Lisa was to Nevar as she should have been, but he stayed silent and decided to see what would happen. Dante turned back to his brother and gave Cisco a nod of approval, as if to saw "way to go little brother", Cisco smiled at the, but still grew nervous as he spoke.

" Umm... Mama... Dante? There's something you should know, something I should have told you guys sooner." He said hesitantly.

" What it is mi querido? What haven't you told us?" Antonia asked as she looked to her youngest son in askance. Cisco swallowed to steady his nerves before he spoke.

" Well Mom... Lisa is King Leonard's younger sister, she's Princess of Nevar. And we kinda got unofficially engaged the night I almost died."

There was a beat of silence and the Dante spoke.

" Hold up kid brother, did you just say you're engaged to a Princess?" He asked, his entire face one of sheer disbelief. From where they stood, Iris was all but bouncing with excitement at the revelation, while Eddie grinned at the happy news. Joe stood stunned as well, but a full grin was soon spreading across his face.

Lisa eyed Antonia nervously, forcing her lips up into a smile as she spoke.

" Surprise?" She said, sounding a little high-pitched due to the nerves.

" Awkward." Harrison said lightly under his breath, but the others heard it all the same and ended up in various stages of stifling laughter.

Dante kept looking between Lisa and Cisco while his mouth worked wordlessly, but Antonia was just standing there in silence, utter silence, and that was by far more worrying.

Len started to grow a bit concerned and stepped forward, putting a reassuring hand over his sister's shoulder as he spoke.

" Lady Ramon, are you alright?" He asked, getting nervous about the blank way in which Cisco's mom was staring.

There was another beat of silence and the Antonia spoke, her eye unfocused and her voice far away and breathy.

" My baby's marrying a princess." Antonia's lips them turned up into a grin, before her eyes promptly rolled up into the back of her head and she started to fall forward.

" Mom!" Cisco cried, moving to get up but Harrison quickly stopped him.

Dante was too stunned to move for a moment, as was Len. But in the split second where everyone else stood still, Lisa rushed forward, almost full on tackling Antonia and wrapping her arms around the unconscious older woman. The Princess of Nevar showed off some great upper body strength as she straightened up to full height and held Antonia's unconscious weight with relative ease. She still looked completely shocked though as she held her future mother-in-law.

There was another beat of stunned silence before Cisco moaned in mortification.

" Oh my God Lisa did we just kill Mama?"

Barry rushed forward to see if he could help, all the while doing his best not to laugh as he turned and mock-glared at Cisco.

" Quit being so overdramatic, she just fainted from the shock, it's not every day you here your future daughter-in-law's an actual princess." There were nods and murmurs of agreement.

" I'll go get the smelling salts." Harrison said, completely unfazed as he hurried away towards the apothecary to get the extra-strong stuff.

Len and Dante took hold of Antonia, relieving Lisa of her burden. Together the King of Nevar and Cisco's brother lifted the petite woman and carried her over to the empty bed besides Cisco's.

Lisa was instantly at Cisco's side, watching on with him in concern.

Harrison returned swiftly with the smelling salts and used them to revive the Lady Ramon. Once Cisco's mother had regained her whits, she promptly burst into tears, loud, high-pitched wails that had many wincing. Things descended into a bit of chaos after that, with Antonia and Dante both turning and proceeding to grill Cisco and Lisa, wanting to know their love story. Len and Barry sat back and watched along with the rest of the family, or peanut gallery as it were, feeling lighter then they had in days. The royal couple did share look though, both of them sensing that the time to reveal the truth about what happened was fast approaching.

Lisa and Cisco obliged, but thankfully Harrison came in before the got to into things, announcing that it was time for Cisco to take his dose of antidote, and that it would put him to sleep. Saved by the doctor in more ways than one.

 _About half an hour later..._

Len was doing his best to remain calm despite the pounding of his heart. Once Cisco had drifted off, Len had asked from everyone who had come from Central Kingdom to come to his private study so that he, Barry, and Harrison could give them some answers. Antonia had declined, saying she would not leave Cisco's side, so she had implored Dante to go in her stead and he had agreed. Lisa had elected to stay with Cisco as well. Harrison charged Caitlyn with keeping watch over Cisco and to come and inform him immediately if anything happened.

Len was currently leaning against the edge of his desk, with Barry ever by his side. Harrison stood on Len's other side eying the room. The party from Central Kingdom sat in a semi circle around them. The air in the room was thick with tension as Dante finally broke the silence.

" You Majesties please tell us what happened? Why would anyone do this to my brother?" He asked quietly.

" It makes no sense whatsoever, I mean this is Cisco we're talking about." Joe added while Eddie and Iris both nodded in agreement.

With a sigh, Len began to explain what had initially happened that night. How it had started off a truly wonderful evening of celebrating the solstice, and how they had all been enjoying themselves without any worry. Then when dinner had come around, Cisco had gotten up and asked for Lisa's hand in marriage in front of basically the whole of Nevar's nobility. Len smiled sadly as he looked at Dante and told him of how Che had gone about testing Cisco's resolve and intentions, and how his little brother had been holding his own, standing tall and declaring his pledge of deep love for Len's sister.

Len bravely kept his voice from trembling, but he could not hide the haunted look in his blue-green eyes as he recounted what had happened then. How Cisco had suddenly doubled over in pain, and then started choking up blood, so much blood.

After that was the recounting of how it had been a mad dash to save Cisco's life, and how the palace had been placed under lockdown. But as Len told the story, Joe noticed how pale Barry had gotten, how oddly quiet he was being.

" What aren't you two telling us?" Joe finally asked, giving Len and Barry a look that told them quite clearly that he was in no mood for frills, he wanted the truth like yesterday. It was Barry who took a deep breath and then began to speak.

" After we got Cisco stabilized, me and Len went back to the Great Hall to address the guests and to let them go, it was then that I noticed the food we were eating and the drinks we had left on the head table. I suddenly remembered some things leading up to Cisco collapsing. So I took mine and Cisco's goblets while Len took his and Lisa's and we brought them to Harrison so that he could test them, see if the drinks was how Cisco was poisoned." Harrison then took over.

" They asked me to perform a test that would let us know if there was any foreign substance in the drinks that were served that night. The test is such that a sample of the drink is poured into a solution that is designed to react if there is anything bad mixed with the drink. While most were having wine, Cisco was having simple cider that evening." Dante nodded at this.

" He always did hate alcohol, even when he came of age." He said with a sad smile.

" So what happened Barry?" Iris asked. Barry took another deep breath before he forced himself to meet his sister's gaze and continued.

" Harrison did the test on all of the goblets that we were all drinking from, and the results were... not what we though they would be." Joe frowned, feeling nervousness rise up inside him, humming just under his skin as he eyed his son.

" What do you mean son?" Barry turned his gaze to Joe and his face crumbled a little. Len wordlessly wrapped an arm around his husband as Barry spoke.

" When Harrison tested Len, Lisa, and Cisco's drinks, there was no reaction, their drinks were't poisoned." The four people sitting across from Len, Barry, and Harrison were all instantly tense with alarm.

" Barry, what about your drink?" Eddie asked, already sounding scared of the answer, Iris, Joe, and Dante looking no better.

Len tightened his hold around his husband, feeling Barry trembling beneath his arm as the Prince took a deep, shuddering breath and spoke.

" When Harrison tested the wine from my goblet, there was a reaction. The solution turned black. It was my goblet that had been laced with the poison." He said finally.

" Oh my God." Iris whispered, her hand going to her mouth as she gazed at Barry with wide-eyed horror, Eddie stunned silent beside her.

Joe and Dante both sat equally stunned, the latter's eyes wide and his mouth working with no sound coming out. Joe just looked dumbstruck.

Barry felt his eyed fill as he forced himself to continue.

" I was drinking from that goblet when dinner started, and everything was fine, but then his servant came and refilled it even though it wasn't even halfway empty. I had never seen the man before but I didn't think anything of it." It was here that Barry turned and looked at Len with sadness and love as he turned back to his family and Dante and continued.

" I was about to take a sip when Len held out his own goblet to me and we decided to share it instead." Barry let out a small, watery huff as he eyed Len again, seeing his husband smile back at him wanly before he continued.

" It was a throwback to our wedding day, we had shared a goblet then too so I didn't drink any of the new wine."

Joe, Iris, Eddie, and Dante all turned there gazes to Len, looking at him in various degrees of wonder and gratitude despite their terror. Len averted his gaze, unable to bare it. It was Dante who finally spoke.

" My Prince, if the poison was meant for you, how did my brother end up getting poisoned?" He asked softly. All eyes turned back to Barry, Harrison letting out a pained sigh as he watched Barry crumble further.

Barry barely bit back a sob as he answered.

" I was just about to finally take a drink from my goblet when Cisco told me he was going to ask Len for Lisa's hand. Before he got up he... he asked if he could have a sip for courage."

Barry trailed off, for everyone knew what happened after that. There was a beat of silence, where everything was still. Then like glass shattering, Iris sobbed loudly as she wrecked herself out of the chair she sat in and all but propelled herself across the room, Barry raising his arms in time to catch her and hugged her tight.

" Barry no" Iris sobbed in despair.

Eddie quickly got up and ran across the room, wrapping his arms around his wife and brother-in-law, his face pale and his eyes wide. And finally, Joe moved, mechanically making his way across the room, his face drained of color and a haunted look on his features as he reached his children and all but threw himself around them. Len was about to take a step back but instead let out a small, startled grunt as a strong, unyielding hand gripped him by the fabric of his shoulder and pulled him forward into the family embrace. Len was about to try and pull away, believing he had no right to be there, when he caught Joe's eyes and saw the steely resolve there, while the older King tightened the grip he hand on his shoulder. Joe's eyes said it just as plainly as spoken words, that just like Barry, Len was part of their unit, their family, and his place was with them, not on the outside looking in.

Harrison turned away to give the royals a moment, and caught sight of Dante where Cisco's older brother still sat. The young man sat with his head in his hand, overwhelmed by all that had been revealed. Harrison carefully made his way over to Dante and placed a hand over the young man's hunched shoulders. Dante looked up at the contact, eying Harrison with over bright, fearful eyes, not saying a word. Harrison nodded in understanding, his own face growing sad as he remembered everything that had happened to Cisco, his apprentice, his friend, and this young man's beloved brother.

After several minutes of being almost crushed by his family, a tearful Barry finally withdrew from them a little, catching sight of Dante where the young lord sat with Harrison by his side. He wordlessly stepped away from his family, Iris almost inconsolable as Eddie took her into his arms, while Joe still gripped an unsteady looking Len's shoulder.

Barry composed himself as much as he could before he walked across the room to stand in from of Dante, who finally stood from his chair. The two faced each other, both looking wrecked, Barry a little more so. They regarded each other silently before Barry finally spoke.

" D-Dante I am-"He began to say, when Dante suddenly held up his hand, silencing him.

There was a tense moment, where everyone wondered what was going to happen. Then Dante let out a shaky breath an lurched forward, throwing his arms around Barry who could not hold back a cry as he wrapped his arms around Dante in turn.

" My Prince, B-Barry, this isn't your fault. Do you hear me? It isn't your fault." Dante gritted out as he squeezed Barry, all sense of propriety long gone.

Barry could only squeeze Dante back as tears ran from his eyes like rivers. From where he stood, Harrison took off his spectacles and used the sleeve of his robe to wipe at his eyes, not even he could remain unaffected by what he was seeing before him.

" God why is this happening?" Dante asked softly.

Barry wished he could give Dante an answer, but he had none and that was the most terrifying thing.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Warning: violence, Sensuality, and Sexual Content in this chapter

Chapter 17

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Len let out a small groan as he sat back in his chair, setting the quill in his hand back into it's delicate looking, ornate silver holder. He had just finished signing off on the newest batch of expense reports that had come in. At least he was getting some work done. The king of Never currently sat in his private study, alone, having dismisses Ronnie and allowed his page to go and spend some time with his own wife.

About almost two hours ago, he and Barry had stood in this very room and revealed the horrifying truth about what had happened a week ago on the night of the Winter Solstice Ball. The devastation on all of those faces was starkly clear in Len's mind. The terror in Joe, Iris, and Eddie, and the disbelief in Dante's face served to silently torment Len now. It had gotten even worse when they had all headed back to the Healing Wing and told Antonia. The poor woman had almost collapsed again from the shock, but she had thankfully kept herself from fainting again and instead all but leapt across the room and taken Barry into her arms. Antonia had wept quietly and mirrored her older son's questions of just why this was all happening. No one could really give either of them an answer, for it still remained a mystery.

Once everyone had calmed down some, the need for sustenance became too much to ignore. With Cisco insisting that he was alright with Harrison to keep watch over him, Len, Barry, and Lisa led had led the way to the private dining room where their family from Central Kingdom got to witness first hand the consequences of the assassination attempt that went so horribly wrong. Everyone had sat in sadness and uncomfortableness as Ronnie and Caitlyn had carried out their poison tasting duties, and once that was done the afternoon meal had been partaken. The conversation had been quiet, Barry, Len, and Lisa all quietly asking after the happenings of Central Kingdom. Len had sat at one end of the table keenly feeling the eyes of King West on him. He had done his best not to squirm under those wise, dark eyes but with every single feeling of failure and self-blame he had been feeling, Len really had wanted the ground to swallow him up. it had been a Godsend when there was a knock on the door and a young messenger had walked in, informing him that there was an urgent matter that he needed to tend to. Len had kissed Lisa on the cheek, Barry on the lips, and insisted that Ronnie not accompany him before he had taken his leave and all but fled.

Now here he was sitting behind his desk doing paperwork in the solitude of his private study, isolated from the ones he wanted to be with, but was kept back from by his own guilt and self-loathing. With a sigh, Len pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he made his way to one of the large arched windows to gaze at the outside world. There was a light dusting of frost over the stones of the palace and along the windowsill, while beyond the palace grounds Len could see his kingdom and his people going about their lives. Len could not help but feel some envy towards the people he was seeing, while they were all busy with their lives, moving forward, he felt like he was just stuck where he had been a week ago, when his world had nearly been violently upended.

Before he could stop it, Len felt his eyes sting with bitter salt. Len stubbornly blinked his eyes until he pushed the burning back and clenched his jaw tightly as he continued to gaze out the window, his eyes now going to the still gray skies over his kingdom. However, the king's mind was undoubtedly on the nightmare that did happens, and the unthinkable horrors that could have been. Len was so lost in his troubled thoughts that he didn't notice the doorknob to his private study turning behind him. it was the light creak of the doors swinging open that finally broke Len out of his contemplations.

Feeling a bit annoyed and without turning, Len spoke.

" I asked not to be disturbed right now Ronnie." While Len was expecting a soft apology, instead the voice that answered him was deep and serious.

" I am not Ronnie." Len felt his insides freeze as he instantly recognized the voice. Len slowly turned and felt his heart clench painfully inside his chest as he found himself meeting the dark, intense eyes of his father-in-law. The king of Central Kingdom stood by the now closed door to the study, eying his son-in-law with an unreadable look. For a long moment Len and Joe simply stared at one another, at an impasse. It was Len who finally snapped back into action as he stepped forward, coming to stand at arms length with Joe as he spoke.

" King West, forgive me, I thought that you and the others would be resting, I've had rooms prepared for you all." Joe's face warmed now, a small, tired smile curling up the corners of his lips as he nodded.

" Yes, Ronnie informed us, and I thank you. Iris and Eddie are still with Barry in the Healing Wing, they all wanted to catch up with each other further, and also grill Cisco and Lisa some more about their sweet romance." Len nodded, smiling himself despite how utterly crummy he was feeling about things. There was another beat before Len spoke.

" Is there anything I can do for you?" He asked, through he felt his gut coil with nervousness.

" Yes, there is something." Joe said before he reached out and gently placed a hand on his son-in-law's shoulder. His grip was firm, and indicating clearly that Len had no escape as Joe spoke.

" Walk with me, it's time you and I talked one on one." Len blinked, and then nodded.

" As you wish your Majesty." He said, barely keeping the tremor out of his voice as he stepped around Joe to open the study door and held it for the older king to step through before following after him. Len left solitude behind to face the person he had been dreading the most.

Joe and Len walked down the halls in silence at first, the fact that they were lined with more guards than there had been before was not lost on Joe. Just another consequence of someone trying to murder the Prince Consort, his son. It was once they were at a crossroads of the palace halls that Joe finally broke the silence.

" Is there a place where you feel comfortable talking, someplace private?" He asked. Len nodded before he spoke.

" Yes your Majesty, there is a spot nearby." He replied before he gestured for Joe to follow.

Together Len and Joe took a left at the fork in the hallways and then proceeded straight until they reached this small, ornate looking archway. Len gestured for Joe to go through first before he followed after the older king.

" Wow." Joe said simply when his eyes took in the room, which turned out to be a gallery room. All along the walls were ornate portraits of men and women of state on full display, with plush looking sofas and chairs all about the room.

" I welcome you to the hall of Nevarian kings and queens past." Len said with a sad sort of smile as he led the way further into the room.

Joe let his eyes take in the many faces, seeing handsome Kings and beautiful queens, and a few that were not quite so handsome or beautiful. It did not get past Joe that every name plate on each portrait bore the name Snart. Leonard and Lisa were both members of a very long and storied dynasty. Len came to a stop in front of a portrait of a handsome man standing tall and dressed in royal finery, who Len bore a striking resemblance to. The same facial features and build, though the man in the portrait had light, almost platinum blond hair and dark amber eyes, where as Len's hair was black, now peppered with gray and his eyes were that striking blue-gray, most likely a trait from his mother.

" Handsome man, who is he?" Joe asked as he took few steps closer to get a better look. Len stepped forward too, eying the picture with warmth, and also yearning.

" This is my grandfather, Richard Tyrell Alonso Snart. This painting was commissioned about a month after he assumed the thrown." Joe turned back to his son-in-law and saw the look of longing on the younger man's face and smiled sadly.

" They were right to make you his namesake, you look just like him." Joe said warmly, remembering that one of Len's middle names was Richard. Much to Joe's silent pleasure, a small appreciative smile graced Len's face at these words, but it vanished much too soon as Len grew serious and spoke.

" You wished to speak to me your Majesty?" He asked, still keeping up the formalities. Joe nodded and then made his way over to the large sofa that stood before Richard Snart's royal portrait and took a seat, gesturing for Len to take the place beside him. Len nodded and sank down into the seat beside Joe. For a moment the two sat in silence and appreciated the skilled rendering of King Richard Snart. It was Joe who finally spoke.

" He means a great deal to you doesn't he?" He said as he gestured to Richard's image. Len looked down for a second before he turned his identical blue eyes back up to his Grandsire's face and nodded.

" Only real father I ever had." Len said, and it was the truth.

Joe knew he had to tread carefully here, while it was obvious to him that Len did not hold his father in very high regard, he did not want to say the wrong thing and have Len shut down on him.

" Tell me about him, I'd like to know more than just where you got your handsomeness from." Joe said with a cheeky smile. Much to his relief, Len's lips turned up into a shy smile as he nodded and began to speak about his grandfather. Joe found himself quiet taken by the tale.

Richard Tyrell Alonso Snart had come to the throne of Nevar at the tender age of twenty-three, just a couple of years older than Leonard himself when he had succeeded Lewis. Richard had been a warrior king, and he had needed to be because only a couple of years into his reign, war had broken out between Nevar and invaders from across the seas. Nevar had proved victorious, for none could match Richard's prowess in battle strategy. Once peace had been achieved, Richard had settled down and married a lovely young Duchess by the name of Jocelyn Chambers. A couple of years later, Lewis was born and all was well for many decades. Lewis had grown and married Constantina, and then they had Leonard. Richard had happily stepped down from the throne, thinking that it was safe for him to retire and enjoy his golden years with his beloved wife.

Sadly, Jocelyn died in her sleep when Leonard was only a year old, and while Lewis had been devastated, he had been able to handle the loss. Richard himself had used that Snart stubbornness to carry on as well, being the doting grandfather all alone. But then more tragedy had struck when Leonard's own mother died in childbirth when he was four and that had simply undone Lewis, leading the man to be the abusive drunkard his children would never forgive. Where Lewis had neglected his two children, Richard had done as much as he could for Leonard and Lisa as their grandfather. He loved them, and they in turn had loved him dearly.

Richard died, most likely of a broken heart, when Leonard was eighteen and Lisa had been ten. Lewis had been so drunk that he couldn't even be roused to even attend his father's funeral, and it had been up to Len to perform all of his grandfather's last rites. In all honesty most were glad that Lewis had been absent, and that Leonard, their young prince who was Richard's spitting image, had been the one to stand poised and strong as the old king was given a stately funeral and then interred in the family crypt.

By the end of his recounting of his grandfather Len's eyes were over bright but he stubbornly kept the tears at bay, while Joe and steadily inched his way closer to his son-in-law, pained by the amount of tragedy Leonard and Lisa had been made to endure by fate. Joe gave Len a chance to compose himself a little before he finally reached out and placed his hand over the younger man's shoulder. He was about to speak when Len spoke first, cutting him off.

" Did Barry put you up to this? Get me to discuss my feelings?" He asked, an edge of annoyed sarcasm to his words. Seeing the Snart stubbornness rearing it's head, Joe shook his head and smiled wanly.

" Nope, Barry didn't ask me to do anything, in fact he thinks I headed up to my rooms to rest. I am here on my own accord, because I've been at this thing called fatherhood long enough to know when one of my kids has need of me."

Joe felt a dull ache as he watched the way Len stiffened at his words, and eyed the look of naked surprise that took over his son-in-law's face at just what Joe was implying, that he wasn't just Barry, Iris, and Eddie's father. Len quickly schooled his features and wouldn't really meet Joe's eyes as he spoke.

" I'm fine, please don't worry yourself over me your Majesty." Joe was having none of it as he reached out and placed his hand over the side of Len's neck and firmly pulled Len's head around and up so that they were face to face as he spoke.

" The hell you are, and enough with this "your majesty" crap. I'm either Joe or Dad to you, you hear me?" Joe watched as Len's eyes widened before he blinked owlishly and then nodded.

" Yes si- J-Joe." Len said quietly, stuttering slightly because this really was confirmation as to what Joe considered Leonard to be to him. Joe was satisfied enough with Len calling him by his name before he continued and got to the heart of the matter.

" I know that what happened terrified you to you core, Hell it would do that to any good husband. But ever since I stepped out of that carriage this morning you have been acting off, distant even, and I want an answer as to why that is Leonard Lewis Richard Snart." Joe said sternly.

Len swallowed thickly, all the usual bravado he would have used were it anyone else having long since fled as he felt all of about five years old under his father-in-law's gaze. Steadying his nerves, Len forced himself to speak truthfully.

" I just... I thought that you'd be angry." Joe snorted as he patted Len's shoulder and then sat back, lightly cracking his knuckles.

" Oh you bet I am angry, I am mad as hell. Someone tried to _kill_ one of _my_ sons, and almost succeeded in killing his best friend. Whoever did this better _pray_ that I don't get my hands on them, because I will make them wish they'd _never_ come out their mother's womb." Joe gritted out, but the look of pure confusion on Len's face gave the older king pause as he sat forward again and spoke.

" Len, what's wrong, why are you looking at me like that?" Len blinked owlishly at Joe before he just blurted out what was on his mind.

" Y-You mean you're not mad at me?" He asked before he could stop himself.

" What?" Joe asked incredulously. He would have laughed too, were it not for the look of true bewilderment on his son-in-law's face.

" What do you mean Len? Why on Earth would I-" Joe began to sake before he trailed off with his mind trying to make sense of what he had just heard. Len stayed tellingly silent, but it was enough for Joe to put two and two together. With a pained sigh, Joe shook his head and each out, gripping Len's shoulders as he spoke.

" You thought I would be mad at you over what happened to Cisco? What almost happened to Barry?" He asked in disbelief.

Len found himself unable to speak as he averted his gaze again and nodded mutely.

" No, no Len, come on." Joe said as squeezed Len's shoulders tightly and continued.

" Like Dante said with Barry, this isn't you fault Len, none of this is." Len shook his head and spoke without looking up.

" But I promised you I'd keep him safe." He said quietly.

" You saying you didn't? When you are the reason that me and Antonia got to hold our sons in our arms instead of being here for either of their... their funerals?" Joe asked, feeling his own throat tighten painfully.

Len looked up at Joe with pained eyes and spoke.

" That assassin ended up killing an innocent kid for his uniform, stuffed him inside a wine barrel and got close enough to spike my husband's drink. Barry's alive because of a fluke, I am no hero." He said softly, once more lamenting the senseless loss of William Hornsby and feeling the chill of just how close he had come to losing Barry.

" Yes you are, the fact that my Iris is alive and well today is already proof of that. You love Barry, you love him more than even I thought would be possible. I saw it from the moment I stepped out of the carriage this morning and laid eyes on you both, and I am thankful beyond words that the two of you achieved such a relationship all on your own. It wasn't a fluke, I don't believe that. This was fate, I mean why else would you have held out your goblet to him just when he was about to drink that poisoned wine, remembering one of the first moments you shared together as husbands?" Joe countered. Len just shook his head and stubbornly kept the tears back.

" It shouldn't have happened in the first place, I ordered for there to be extra security that night, I had Mark charge only his best men to guard the Hall, and us. I just don't understand how this could have happened, how that assassin got close enough to actually spike Barry's drink and _smile_ at him." He said with disgust, both at himself and his husband's would be murderer.

Joe nodded in understanding as he let go of one of Len's shoulders to gently cup the side of his son-in-law's neck as he spoke.

" You do everything you can possibly think of to keep the people you love safe, but then things like this happen anyway. That is how things turn out sometimes, that doesn't mean it's you fault. Believe me Len, the way you're feeling right now, I've been there, felt the exact same way." Len startled a little at this and then looked to Joe in askance.

" What do you mean Joe?" He asked quietly. Joe smiled sadly, a far away look taking over his face as he drew away from Len and sat back with a sigh.

" You know how I became king of Central Kingdom, the nightmare Barry lived through." Joe began, Len nodding sadly.

" I was the Head General before that, in charge of the royal family's security. In the days leading up to that night, I had reposts coming in from all over that someone had ill-intentions towards the king. I did everything possible to ensure my king, queen, and little prince's safety, posted extra guards, only the best men I had under my command, hell even had poison tasters like Ronnie and Caitlyn did for us today. I just didn't expect that someone with the ill-intent being Eobard, Henry's own brother." Joe said with a bone-deep sadness.

Len stayed quiet and eyed his father-in-law sadly, waiting for him to continue.

" It was my job to keep them safe, and even after doing all that I could, I still ended up losing two of the best friends I ever had. I saved Barry, and he's my son as far as I am concerned, but for years after I wished that I could have saved Henry and Nora, that I could have seen Eobard's madness." Joe reached up and wiped at his eyes before he focused completely on Len.

" _I_ failed, but you Len, _you_ didn't."

There was a beat of charged silence and then Len let out a shaky breath and spoke.

" My father made plenty of enemies while he ruled, the asshole was bullheaded even when he wasn't near drowning himself in wine, but once I became King things got better, they settled down and I did my best to show the kingdom that I was nothing like my father. Most of the animosity disappeared, and those who still posed a threat, were either imprisoned or banished, and over the years forgotten." Len said. Joe reached out again and once more gripped Len by the shoulder.

" You did good Len, and I know that you are trying to be strong, that you think maybe it would be best if you drew away from us but don't do that, don't do that Len, especially not to Barry." Len sighed and nodded, a humorless smile curving up one corner of his mouth as he spoke.

" It took a while, and a lot of work but I was finally feeling like I deserve someone like Barry, and this, all this happening just makes me feel like I am back at square one." Joe smiled sadly and nodded in understanding.

"You're being way too hard on yourself, like I said, none of this is your fault." Joe said, and Len chuckled wanly.

" That's what Barry's been saying this whole past week." Joe chuckled too.

" Well he ain't wrong, and the sooner you get that through your head, the better." He added with good-natured sternness.

Len chuckled, but then right in the middle his breath hitched and he groaned lightly against the furious burning behind his eyes. Joe didn't say a word as he watched Len finally, finally crumble. Instead he let his instincts guide him, gently hooking a hand around the back of his son-in-law's neck and firmly pulling the younger man to him. Len tried to resist but it was no use as he found himself wrapped in quiet warmth.

Len didn't break down into sobs or start wailing, that was not his nature. Instead he simply allowed Joe to hold him, gripping Joe's wrists tightly in return as the tears fell silently from his eyes. Letting out a shaky breath, Len spoke against the crook of Joe's arm.

" Someone tried to take him from us Dad, from _me,_ and they almost took my baby sister's love from her. And the worst part is that they're still out there." He said softly. Joe closed his eyes for a moment, letting the fact that Len had just called him Dad for the first time wash over him before he opened his eyes, with a renewed determination in them as he tightened his hold around Len and spoke.

" I know you'll find whoever did this, I know you won't spare them. I have faith in you son." Len could no longer speak, so instead he nodded and allowed himself this one moment to fall apart and be comforted by his father-in-law under the ever watchful eyes of his dear grandfather, and the privacy of the hall of Nevarian rulers past.

 _About half an hour later..._

Len groaned lightly and rubbed at the back of his neck as he made his way towards the royal apartments. He had just seen Joe off in the stately rooms that had been prepared for his father-in-law after the two of them had spent some more time together in the hall of portraits. After Len had composed himself, he and Joe had switched topics, Len proudly showing Joe around the hall and recounting his family history. Joe had listened with interest, though he had subtly glared at Lewis Snart's portrait as they had passed by it.

Now it was late afternoon over Nevar and its king wanted to just take a break and relax, maybe sleep or read, just anything that had nothing to do with royal duties. Len hadn't bothered to call Ronnie back to his side, deciding to let his Page enjoy time with his wife. Barry was most likely still working down in the Healing Wing as well, and while a part of him yearned for his husband, Len had decided not to disturb his husband as well.

Len sighed as he entered the royal apartments, and he was about to make a b-line for the bedroom when he noticed that the door to the bathing chamber was slightly ajar. Curious considering the door was usually closed whenever not in use, Len quietly made his way over to it to peer inside, and when he did the King of Nevar found his face breaking out into a pleasantly surprised grin.

There laying against the submerged steps of the faintly steaming bathing pool, dozing lightly and looking like something straight out of a dream was Barry with the water coming to just below his chest. Feeling heat rise up through him, Len forgot all about heading to bed for a nap and carefully eased the door open further, trying his ample best not to make any noise as he quietly stepped through. Once Len was inside he carefully shut the door.

A few minutes later, Barry's loud gasp echoed through the bathing chamber, followed by his breathless laughter that ended in a soft groan. At first the Prince Consort of Nevar had nearly jumped out of his skin when he was unexpectedly roused from the light doze he had fallen into when his sleepy mind registered the hands that were on him, but the moment he opened his eyes and saw who it was Barry relaxed and laughed as Len began kissing down his bare chest, groaning when his husband pressed his lips to the sensitive scar just below his right pec.

 _(Author's note: Please try listening to "The Cave" from the soundtrack to the movie "The Hunger Games")_

Len drew back and pulled Barry up into his arms, his husband wrapping his arms around him in turn. For the longest moment they simply stayed this way and gazed at each other, steely blue eyes meeting those of hazel green, nothing but warmth and desire in them. Barry grinned brightly at Len, his chocolate brown hair damp and plastered against his forehead, making Len smile back at him just as brightly. Then as one they were closing the sparse distance between them, their lips sealing together in a deep kiss. Barry sighed as let his hands roam over Len's back, enjoying the feel of those powerful muscles rippling and coiling beneath his palms. Len wrapped his arms around Barry's waist and held his husband close. When they finally drew back, Barry and Len were both a little breathless but smiling as Barry spoke.

" Hi stranger." He said softly, Len chuckled as he leaned in a pressed his forehead to Barry's.

" I missed you too." He said earnestly, letting the scents that laced the hot bath water wash over him, that intoxicating smell like lightening that he would forever only associate with Barry.

In that moment the playful air between them suddenly became less playful, and more charged, more primal. When they came together again, the kiss was sloppy, more teeth, more filled with their mutual desperate desire for each other. Len groaned and he felt a heat that had nothing to do with the hot water he was currently half-submerged in lance through his whole being. He wanted his husband, he wanted him now.

They broke apart with a gasp, Barry immediately turning his attention to Len's neck, kissing and biting a trail down to the older man's shoulder. Len groaned in pleasure and approval, one of his hands reaching up to tangling his fingers into Barry's hair. When he gave the strands a light tug, Len smirked in triumph as Barry let out a soft cry and shuddered against him. Len wrapped his arms around Barry and started moving them towards the steps of the bathing pool. Len back Barry up the steps and towards the long, elegant grecian sofa that stood by the far wall. The royal couple fell onto the soft cushioned surface in a light tangle of limbs as they sought out each others' lips, uncaring that they were sopping wet. Barry parted his legs, so that Len ended up laying between them, the both of them groaning at the intimate contact this caused. Barry lost himself in the feeling of having Len this close to him, after a whole week of them being somewhat distant and too stressed, sharing only tender, veritably chaste kisses, what they were doing now was way beyond all of that. This was the two of them reconnecting, reiterating that they were alive and together. When they broke apart with a gasp, Barry leaned up and began attacking Len's neck with his mouth and teeth while his hands traveled all over Len's water-slicked back. Len groaned softly, leaning into the attention Barry was lavishing on him.

Len slowly trailed one of his hands up Barry's quivering stomach, Barry gasping softly and arching into his touch. Len leaned down and mouthed lightly at Barry's jaw as he sought out the sensitive scar again, lightly dragging his thumbnail over it. Len grinned in triumph as Barry cried out and arched almost clear off the sofa, pressing their bodies together even more. Len leaned down and kissed a molten hot trail up Barry's neck before lightly sank his teeth into the spot just behind his husband's ear. Barry shuddered almost violently against Len before he went limp, gasping lightly at the sensation.

" L-Len." Barry said softly. Len soothed the bite he had just left on his husband's neck by running his tongue over it, and then he was covering Barry's mouth with his own once more.

Things quickly devolved after that, Barry's soft cry of pained pleasure echoing through the bathing chamber as Len finally joined their bodies. Barry groaned as Len took one of the dusky buds that graced his pectorals into his hot mouth and worried it lightly with his teeth. Len moaned as he began to move, drawing back and then surging forward, Barry moving in tandem to meet him.

As they made love to each other, everything else in the world faded to the far background. Barry ran one of his hands down Len's arm until he reached his husbands hand and intertwined their fingers. Len surged forward and finally hit that special spot.

" Len!" Barry all but sobbed before he surged up and smashed his mouth to his husband's. Without breaking the kiss, Len wrapped his free arm around Barry's waist and sat up, taking Barry with him.

Barry tightened his legs around Len's waist and broke the kiss with a gasp as he found himself straddling his husband. Their eyes were over-bright and their faces were flushed.

" Oh." Len breathed as Barry began to move his hips against him, the feeling of it maddening, and glorious.

Barry raised the hand he still had intwined with Len's, gently disentangling their fingers, but only so that Barry could take Len's hand and press it flat against the center of his own chest. The feeling of Barry's heartbeat against his palm gave Len pause as he looked up into Barry's eyes. Barry leaned in a pressed a sweet kiss to Len's lips before he spoke against them.

" Feel me husband, I am alive because of you." He whispered breathily.

Len swallowed thickly and nodded, moving his hand away from the center of Barry's chest so that he could press his lips there, causing Barry to groan softly in pleasure. Len pressing his cheek against the same spot, letting his eyes fall shut and simply listening to the steady beat of his husband's heart for a few moments before he spoke softly.

" I love you so much Barry." Barry smiled, his own eyes filling with warm salt as he wrapped his arms around Len's shoulders and pressed a kiss to the crown of his head before he spoke against Len's close cropped hair.

" And I love you Len." Then Barry drew back and took Len's face into his hands, a smirk worthy of his husband turning up the corners of his lips as he spoke.

" Now enough sugary sweetness, I want you to remind me just how very much alive I am Leonard Snart."

Len parted his lips, about to say something when Barry undulated that lithe body of his and all the king could manage was a breathy groan. Grinning, Barry leaned down so that he could whisper in his husband's ear just what kind of demands he had of Len. As the words registered, Len felt his blood boil anew at the sheer obscenities that were coming out of his husband's mouth. With a low growl, Len lightly shoved Barry by the chest, sending the younger man falling backwards back onto the cushions of the grecian sofa.

Barry landed with a small grunt, but he looked up at Len with a challenging grin, one that Len answered with a hungry smirk before he surged forward and covered Barry's body with his own, snapping his hips back before thrusting them forward. Barry groaned in ecstasy as he and Len began to move against each other once more. Soon the bathing chamber was filled with the sounds of there pleasurable reunion. The noises grew steadily louder and louder, more desperate sounding with each passing moment until finally, Barry cried out first.

" LEN!" He yelled as release washed over his entire being, his vision whiting out while his whole body arched magnificently against Len.

Barry's release had his body clamping around Len as with a low growl he thrust once... twice, and then finally he fell over the edge himself.

" BARRY!" Len cried as he joined his husband in pure, blissful rapture, body going rigid against Barry's as the waves of pleasure washed over them both.

Barry groaned lightly as Len all but fell on top of him, not minding at all as he wrapped his arms around his husband. The sounds of their heavy breathing now filled the room as they lay in post-coital bliss. When Len felt like he could finally move his limbs, he unjoined his body from Barry's as gently as he could, please to see that Barry only winced mildly in discomfort. Unlike how they usually came together in intimacy, with ample time taken for preparation, this time around they had not really bothered for the oils or lubricant.

As the euphoria began to fade, the need to get clean made itself known. With a smile Len pulled a grumbling Barry up from the grecian sofa. Together the pair made their way back to the bathing pool where the water was still pleasantly warm. They bathed each other, trading kisses and using the soap and sponges that were available to them to thoroughly clean each other of the lingering signs of their passion. Len smiled warmly at Barry, who was more or less asleep on his feet by the time they had gotten out of the pool and toweled themselves dry. Each now clad in a luxurious white bathrobe, Barry and Len started to shuffle out of the bathing chamber, pleasantly rung out and lethargic. As he made his way to the door, Len spotted his discarded clothing strewn about the floor, right where he had left them. Normally he would have let the servants simply pick up after him, but instead he reached down and picked up his things, gathering them into his arms and smiling at Barry who smiled back as he held the door to the bathing chamber open for him to get through first before following in his wake.

The royal couple made their way across the living room area, the arm cool against their bath warmed skin. Len made a b-line for the door to his changing suite, deftly pulling it open and stepping inside. He promptly dumped his clothes onto a nearby chair, not noticing the folded pieces of parchment that stuck out of the inner pocket of his jacket, the same pieces of paper he had compiled with Ronnie earlier that morning. With a sigh Len turned and headed back out of his changing suit where Barry was waiting for him by the doors to their bedroom.

When he reached Barry's side, Len chuckled as he was kissed soundly. With Barry still lavishing attention on him, nuzzling and kissing at his face and neck, Len pushed the door to their bedroom open and pulled Barry inside. Once the door was shut, two sets of bath robes soon found their way to the floor and lay forgotten while their wearers made their way over to the luxurious king-sized bed and climbed under the covers.

" Hmm." Len groaned lightly in approval as he lay on his front, his eyes closed and a smile on his face as Barry draped himself over his husband's back, pressing gentle kisses along the back of Len's neck and over his shoulders. Barry then rested his cheek against Len's shoulder while his hand trailed down Len's arm, seeking out his hand so that Barry could intertwine their fingers again, their matching wedding bands pressing together and glittering softly in the daylight that streamed into the room. They laid there like that in a comfortable silence, a sense of peace washing over them. By no means did it chase away completely the dark pall of what they were going through, but this coming back together after many days of stress and Len's self-imposed sort of exile from Barry, served to beat it back a great deal.

With a sigh, Len opened his eyes and slowly turned over onto his side so that he was facing his husband, keeping Barry's fingers intertwined with his own as he gazed up at his husband. Barry smiled back at Len. It was Len who finally broke the silence.

" I'm sorry that I've been blaming myself so much, letting it come between us." He said softly. Barry just shook his head.

" No Len, you've been right here with me. I don't think I would be taken things as well as I have been if I didn't have you." Len reached up with his free hand and cupped Barry's cheek, the younger man leaning into the touch and smiling. Barry then leaned in and pressed his lips to Len's in a chaste kiss. He stayed close when they broke apart and spoke.

" No more talk about what happened, just be here with me now." He said softly. Len smiled softly and nodded as he let go of Barry's hand to wrap his arms around his husband and pull him in close.

" I'm with you." He said as he pressed his lips to Barry's forehead, while his hands traveled along the smooth, pale planes of his husband's back. Barry sighed in contentment as he leaned in and pressed kisses to Len's collarbone. They didn't fall asleep, or go at another round of mind-blowing love-making, instead they simply lay together in their bed, literally and figuratively naked with one another. They talked quietly, Len telling Barry about how he and Joe had talked and solidified their relationship, while Barry conveyed his pride in Len.

" I won't let whoever did this take me from you Len, I swear it." Barry said with fire behind his hazel green eyes, leaving no doubt how serious he was.

" I'll hold you to that." Len said, Barry's words both warming him, and causing him silent anxiety for he fervently hoped that the culprit behind the assassination attempt would be found without Barry being put in harms way.

The royal couple smiled at each other before Barry surged forward and kissed Len soundly again, the king's deep chuckle sounding through the room as he wrapped his arms around Barry and gave himself over completely to his husband's ministrations.

 _(Warning: The following scene may be potentially triggering, reader discretion advised)._

 _Meanwhile, many miles away at the outskirts of the kingdom where a slightly dilapidated estate stood..._

Hartley barely kept himself from crying out as the leather strap made brutal contact with his bare back. The searing burn nearly stole the breath right out of the young man, but he kept himself still as the next blow came with unmerciful force. The young servant stood naked from the waist up, with his hands braced over the edge of his master's desk. Standing behind the already bruised up young man was Lord James Jesse, with an enraged look on his face and with his arm already drawing back to let fly another blow of the wicked piece of hard leather in his hands.

Jesse wasn't hitting hard enough to break skin, but the thin, faded white scars that littered Hartley's back almost like the perversion of wings was silent and old reminders of the many times the Lord had.

Today Hartley had been unfortunately enough to accidentally drop a plate while he had been cleaning the fine china in the dining room. The sound of the shattering porcelain had reverberated through the oppressively silent house. Within minutes Hartley found himself facing the brutal wrath of Lord James Jesse. The Lord had hurled all manner of abuse at Hartley, till the old sod was red in the face before he had grabbed a terrified Hartley by the hair and dragged him to his offer where he had ordered the young man to strip of his shirt and assume his current position.

King Leonard may have outlawed his father's tradition of using the leather strap to discipline servants, but James Jesse was one to hold on to the old ways, especially the one's that caused the most pain. Oh how he missed the reign of Lewis Snart.

Jesse unleashed five more lashes to Hartley's back before he shoved the poor boy off his desk, Hartley toppling to the floor, dazed and in pain.

" Clean up the mess you caused you filthy little rat." Jesse sneered. Then a sick smirk spread across his face as he looked down his nose at the young man cowering before him.

" At least you learned to keep your trap shut, otherwise I would have broke out the cat o' nine tails. Bet you would have just _loved_ that wouldn't you, you little slug?"

Hartley bit his lower lip hard enough to bleed, anything to keep from crying out in terror and pain as he scrambled for his discarded shirt and then hurried out of Jesse's office to do as he was told. Crying only made things worse.

Everyone in the Jesse Manor knew this.

" Useless mongrel." Jesse said under his breath with a snort before he yelled out for someone to get him some wine, the other servants in the house scrambling to do as their master commanded, not wanting to have his wrath hurled upon them.

Back in the dining room, Hartley did up the buttons of his short sloppily, his trembling hands making the usually easy task almost impossible. Letting out a shaky breath, Hartley groaned softly as he sank to his knees and began gathering up the pieces of broken porcelain. There had been countless times where Hartley Rathaway had found himself in such a state and in such a position, kneeling on the floor and picking up pieces of shatter objects. Sometimes it had been by his own hand, most times by the insane rage of his master.

To think, twenty years ago when he had been just an eight year old orphan and Lord Jesse had come to the orphanage and hand picked him to take with him, Hartley had thought that things would be wonderful, that he finally had a home. Oh how wrong he had been, the orphanage had been decent, at least he had been treated like a human being their. The moment he stepped foot in this accursed estate, Hartley had found himself and dozens of other young children as Lord Jesse's servants.

Slaves was a more accurate description. Servants got pay, they got decency, they could leave once the day of work was done. It was not so for Hartley and his fellow for they were all of them orphan with no one to miss them, and no place to go. All they had was a mat on the cold stone floor of one of Lord Jesse's basements that had once served as a wine cellar. The wine had been moved, and the rest of the underbelly of the mansion had become something straight out of a nightmare.

Hartley felt his stomach churn as he remembered just what had happened down in the lowest parts of the mansion, the nauseating stench of rotting meat, the bloodcurdling sounds of dying animals, and he and his fellow servants being powerless to do anything more than get rid of the evidence of Lord Jesse's foul pastime once it was all said and done.

Stealing Lord Scudder's livestock in order to distill the deadly poisons Lord Jesse had resurrected from an ancient tome of a bygone era he had found on the black market. The same poison that Digger Harkness had used to try to kill the Prince Consort Bartholomew and ended up poisoning the Marquis Ramon on the night of the Winter Solstice. When Lord Jesse had finished raging at the failure to murder King Leonard's husband, he had immediately ordered the destruction of all the evidence that could link him to the assassination plot. The carcasses of the cows that had died from the distillation process were burned and the ashes scattered throughout the gardens. The cows that had not yet been used ha been brutally slaughtered, and the meat used to stock the pantry, so vile was Lord Jesse that he had decided to enjoy a stew made from these poor animals the very next day after the Winter Solstice. Lord Jesse had grinned and gloated as he ate, while his servants went hungry, as was often the way things were. They were always in constant fear of him, but this past week it had increased ten-fold since they all knew that Digger Harkness was still hiding out somewhere within the Kingdom, staying true to his word that he would not depart until Prince Bartholomew was dead by his hand.

However, as Hartley gingerly rose to his feet, he did not feel the same despair blanket him as it had done so many times in the past. Where as before he would be squashing down sobs and having tears running down his face, right now, in this moment all that filled the young man's heart was cold, hard determination. There was just so much a person could take, so many atrocities they could endure before it all became too much to bare silently.

As he stared at the jagged pieces of porcelain in his hands, Hartley could not help but contemplate them. It would be so easy to simply take a piece and use it to slice through his wrist and use death as an escape, like many servants had done in the past. Whenever Lord Jesse was informed of a servants suicide, he would be so nonchalant as he ordered the bodies to be taken to the farthest field on his property to be buried and all protest was quashed by the fear that the Lord would send them to his field/personal cemetery too.

Hartley quickly shook himself out of these dark musings, he wouldn't need the jagged pieces of broken porcelain because he had a plan, had been contemplating one for _years_. As he made his way to the kitchens to dispose of the broken plate pieces, Hartley decided that he had suffered at the hands of James Jesse for long enough, that soon he would finally escape this hellish existence, and hopefully with it bring freedom to his fellow servants, his only family.

 _Back at the palace..._

Barry laughed lightly as Len gently wrestled him onto his front and then started kissing and lightly biting at his shoulders. He and Len had spent a good hour together lounging around in bed, simply enjoying each other. Now though it was time to get back to the present. Len ran his hand down Barry's spine, smiling against the back of his husband's neck as he felt Barry shiver and sigh against him, the muscles of the younger man's back rippling gracefully beneath his palm.

" We should get dressed, it'll be time for dinner soon." Len murmured against Barry's neck. Barry nodded wordlessly before he turned over onto his back and gazed up at Len.

For a long moment they just stared at one another, smiling warmly with a peacefulness surrounding them. Then with a sigh, Barry leaned up and pressed his lips to Len's in a chaste kiss that the King returned before they drew away and got up. Since Ronnie was not present, they didn't both with modesty, each man padding to his changing suite gloriously nude. They shared a smile before they each ducked into their respective suites.

Once he was inside his own suite, Len shuffled about first finding some clean undergarments. Once that was donned Len happened to walk past the chair where he had dumped the clothes he had been wearing earlier in the day. He happened to glance at his discarded jacket and then stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes fell on the folded pieces of parchment paper that were sticking out of the jacket's inner pocket.

In an instant Len was striding forward and snatching up the pieces of parchment, unfolding them and skimming over the words he had written, his earlier research with Ronnie coming back to his mind in full force.

" Damn, how could I forget?" Len asked himself before he shook his head and set the papers in his hand down on top of the jacket. He then went about getting dressed quickly.

He picked out a pale cerulean blue Tudor jacket with a silver filigree overlay and black trousers. Once he had these on, he pulled on some simple knee length black leather boots and draped a simple silver chain of filigree snowflakes and circle-cut diamonds over his shoulders. Len smiled for a moment because this chain had been a birthday gift from Lisa. The King quickly grew serious as he picked up the papers and refolded them before stuffing them inside his inner jacket pocket. Len then made his way out of his changing suite and out into the living room area. A part of Len wanted to just barge into Barry's suite and tell him everything, but instead Len stood and forced himself to wait. Let his husband dress in peace and then come out so that he could share with him the possible connection he had unearthed earlier this morning.

After what seemed like hours now that Len's heart was racing with eagerness, Barry stepped out of his changing suite. Despite his desire to see Harrison Wells as soon as possible, Len took a moment to simply admire his husband. Barry was dressed simply, but elegantly in a deep, maroon hued Tudor jacket with vibrant gold piping running vertically down the front and spiring down the sleeve. Black trousers and rich brown leather knee high boots adorned his legs and feet, and finishing out the look, Barry wore a chain of gold and rubies draped around his shoulders.

Red was definitely Barry's color. Len smiled and stepped forward to greet Barry, who smiled back. They came together in a deep kiss and enjoyed a few moment before Len drew back, looking serious. Barry immediately picked up on this as he spoke.

" What is Len?" He asked.

" I don't know for sure, but I think me and Ronnie have found a possible lead on who tried to hurt us." Len replied.

Barry's instantly grew wide.

" What do you mean?" He asked slowly. Len reached out and cupped the side of his stunned husband's neck.

" What I mean is that there might be a connection between what happened during the night of the Ball and something that's been going on for a few weeks now with Lord Samuel Scudder's livestock." Len explained.

" The missing cows?" Barry asked as he remembered the strange disappearances. Len nodded.

" Exactly that, I'm not all the way certain but I want to talk to Harrison." Barry seemed to calm a little at this before he nodded curtly.

" Alright, let's go." He said simply.

Len nodded before he and Barry quickly left the royal apartments. They strode with purpose down the hall, making quick work of getting to the Healing Wing. They quietly ducked into the private wing where they caught sight of Harrison conversing with Antonia and Dante while Lisa was every present by Cisco's side. A few feet away Caitlyn and Ronnie sat close together, chatting quietly and intimately. It was Cisco who caught sight of them first.

" Your majesties." He said with a wave and a grin, alerting everyone else to the arrival of the royal couple.

Len and Barry both smiled warmly at the recovering young man, forgetting the seriousness for a few moments as they reached Cisco's bedside to greet everyone properly. Barry and Cisco exchanged a quick hug, while Len kissed Lisa's cheeks before they switched, Len giving Cisco a hug while Barry hugged Lisa soundly. Caitlyn and Ronnie both stepped forward and bowed to their rulers, who greeted them warmly in return. Then Len and Barry greeted Dante and Antonia warmly, each getting a kiss on the cheek from Cisco's mother. They shook hands with Dante as well before they both turned their attention to Harrison as the Chief Healer stepped forward.

" Back so soon you majesties?" Harrison asked, to which Len and Barry both smiled before Len spoke.

" Had to come and see you about something, have you got a minute?" The King asked, sending Harrison a subtle look that after years of working together, Harrison immediately recognized as a call for utmost delicacy.

" Of course my King, let's go to my office." Harrison said, though there was a silent question in his blue eyes. Len and Barry both nodded and followed after Harrison as he led the way to a more private spot.

Harrison held the door open for the royals and then stepped in, shutting it.

" What's going on my king?" Harrison asked, watching curiously as Len reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out some folded pieces of parchment. Len stepped forward, unfolding his notes as he spoke.

" Harrison, you know about the poison that the assassin used to spike Barry's drink. I remember you mentioning during that night after you figured it out that part of the way that the poison is made is through distilling it through the stomach of an animal."

" Yes your majesty, that is the way all of those foul ingredients combine to form a potent substance." Harrison said with a nod, still trying to figure out where Len was getting at. Len nodded before he continued.

" I also remember you saying that the ideal animals to use are goats or cows right?" He asked, to which Harrison nodded again.

" Yes, goats and cows are known for having four stomachs, making them ideal for the distillation process. Why do you ask your majesty?" He asked. Len shared a look with Barry before he spoke.

" Harrison, you remember what's been going on with Samuel Scudder's livestock these last few weeks?" He asked.

In an instant Harrison was on the alert, for he did indeed remember.

" Oh my God, his cows kept disappearing." Harrison sighed knowingly. Len nodded grimly.

" Exactly, and this morning I just got a report from Scudder, along with a personal letter. The cows have stopped disappearing, but Scudder is suspicious, because he tells me that the thievery stopped on the night of the Winter Solstice Ball. He came home expecting his foreman to report more heads of cattle gone, instead nothing, the counts came back that all were accounted for. This past week there have been no reports of any cows missing." Len explained before he held out the papers to Harrison, who took them an glanced over them before looking back up at Len in askance.

" Me and Ronnie went over the many reports that came in from Scudder regarding the disappearances. I have compiled a list of the numbers of all the cows that went missing going by chronological order. I was going to come and find you but I got a little... sidetracked." Len explained, his eyes going to Barry who barely bit back the urge to smile as his cheeks colored slightly. They grew serious once more as Len spoke to Harrison.

" Harrison, how many cows would someone need to make the poison and do the numbers I have compiled match up?" Len asked quietly.

" I have no doubts as to your calculations. You have always been gifted regarding numbers my King." Harrison said as he began to read the numbers listed. Then he looked back up at his King and Prince.

" I will need to research the old tomes to compare the numbers." Harrison said.

" With all speed Lord Wells." Len said with a nod.

Harrison gave a light bow before he quickly exited his office with a swish of his robes, leaving the royal couple to each other. Barry wordlessly stepped closer to Len, wrapping an arm around his husband's waist while Len reached out and wrapped an arm around his shoulders in turn.

" I'm not sure of anything Barry." Len said honestly.

" Hey, any lead is better than nothing." Barry replied as he smiled warmly at his husband. Len could not resist smiling back as he leaned in a pressed his lips to Barry's in a lingering peck.

Now all they could do was wait for Harrison to get back, hopefully with some confirmation. They wanted some surety before they shared Len's discovery with everyone else. It took fifteen excruciatingly long minutes, but finally Harrison quietly ducked back into his office, a fire behind his blue eyes.

" Your majesties, I just looked up the recipe for this specific poison from the archives we have, your suspicions and the Lord Samuel Scudder's appear to have merit. The process itself takes time to perfect, so one making this poison would need to start off with a good number of cows, but once they had the formula down pat, they could stave off, using three or four cows. The trend I am seeing from your calculations matches up with the recipe my King." Harrison said grimly.

Len gripped Barry's hand tightly as he nodded, his own face almost stone-liked.

" Lord Scudder's instincts were right, these events are too close to be mere coincidence." He said firmly.

 _A little while later in the private ward of the Healing Wing..._

" It's a start, I'll give you that." Joe said as he looked over the numbers on Len's not, with Harrison standing beside him.

There were nods all around the private, Len and Harrison having just finished explaining the possible connection Len had discovered regarding Lord Scudder's disappearing cows and the attempt on Barry's life. Lisa and Antonia sat on either side of Cisco where he sat propped up in his bed, looking rested and with most of the paleness of his brush with death gone from his features.

" It's bad enough that whoever did this targeted the Prince Consort, but they decided to carry out their goals by threatening an innocent man's livelihood." Mark said in disgust from where he stood beside Len and Barry who were sitting on one of the empty beds. There were nods and looks of agreement all around before Mark looked to his rulers.

" Your Majesties, how should we proceed?" He asked.

" We'll have to be subtle about this for sure." Len said, giving Barry's hand a squeeze before continuing.

" I do want Lord Scudder's property thoroughly searched for clues. Even though I sent trackers a few weeks ago, they weren't able to come up with any evidence of just who is taking the cattle and how they're doing it." Len said, his frustration evident.

" And if the disappearances have truly stopped, they whoever did this is probably cutting their losses and destroying as much evidence as possible." Barry added with an unhappy frown. Mark was thoughtful as he contemplated idea, and then one came to mind.

" Your Majesties." Mark said, all eyes turning to him as he continued.

" I agree that Lord Scudder's property should be searched, perhaps I could take a small group of my most senior guards and investigate Lord Scudders farm lands and barns for any possible clues?" Len smiled at his head general's idea.

" Great idea, but if you ride up to this Lord Scudder's property in full regalia, wouldn't that be a warning sign?" Joe asked.

" You raise a valid point King West." Mark said with a nod. It was Iris who them piped up.

" What if they went dressed as civilians instead of in armor?" She asked. Mark snapped his fingers.

" That's it! If me and my men come dressed in civvies we could blend in with Lord Scudder's employees and carry out our investigating under the guise of simple farm work, especially if he needs extra hands for any project he might have."

Mark sent Iris his best grin, to which she grinned back, Eddie planting a sound kiss to her cheek and looking quite proud of his wife. Joe looked to Iris with pride as well before he grew serious once more.

" This is good, really good even, but we still don't know who it is we're after." He said with a sigh. Barry sighed as well as he spoke.

" I gave my description of the man who served me the wine that night to one of our best portrait artists, Kyle Nimbus, a couple of days ago. He took a rough outline and all, but he said that he would take a couple of days to refine it with all the details I could remember." Barry explained before he turned to Len.

" Has there been any word on that?" He asked his husband.

" I have sent the messenger a few times, but it's like I told you Barry, eh just needs the time to work. Besides that, we swore him to secrecy about this, even from his own family so he's going to need some time." Len said, sending Barry a quietly apologetic look. Barry just shook his head and smiled at Len, the two of them sharing a look. Joe couldn't help but feel warmth at the sight, his Barry sharing a connection with someone that didn't even need words to convey.

Conversation then turned to other, less serious things like how Edie's mother and Lord Martin Stein were doing, along with Cisco's impending release from the Healing Wing. For a little while they could somewhat ignore the dark cloud over Nevar. The time was spent well, Mark and Len planning out how they would go about carrying out the investigation of Lord Scudder's farms. Barry wanted nothing more than to go with Mark and his men and investigate himself, but he knew full well that Len would never allow it, and that he would not be able to blend in at all.

Soon it was time for dinner, and everyone parted ways, Barry and Len bidding their family a temporary farewell so that they too could freshen up back in the royal apartments.

" I really hope Mark finds something my Prince." Ronnie said as he held up the light emerald green jacket Barry had chosen to wear to dinner for the evening.

" So do I Ronnie." Barry said as he dropped his arms into the sleeves and started doing up the buttons while Ronnie stepped off to go and fetch one of Barry's chains for him and draped it over the Prince Consort's shoulders. The chain was one of simple gold filigree, yet it looked resplendent on Barry.

A couple of minutes later, both Barry and Ronnie were stepping out of Barry's changing suite at about the same time Len was stepping out of his. The king of Nevar looked handsome in a dark copper hued Tudor jacket. Over his shoulders Len too wore a simple chain of oval cut diamonds mounted on silver.

Len and Barry shared a quick kiss before they headed down to dinner, with Ronnie following ever faithfully behind them. Everyone convened in the private family dining room, where Len and Barry were the first to greet Lisa, who both Cisco and Antonia had insisted enjoy dinner with the rest of the family this evening instead of being the near permanent fixture by Cisco's side. She was dressed simply in a lovely, deep magenta dress with her hair pulled into a loose ponytail.

There was a delicious spread of sumptuous food waiting for them, but before anyone could touch anything, Ronnie and Caitlyn had to carry out their necessary duty of poison testing everything. Once that was done, everyone was seated and began to enjoy the good food and the better company. But even as Len and Barry had dinner with their family, they could not help but think the same thought.

That this was the calm before the next storm.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Warning: Description of violence towards animals and discussion of torture and disturbing subject matters.

Chapter 18

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It was a bright, wintery morning over the Kingdom of Nevar. The dark clouds that had been plaguing the skies over the land had abated on this day, leaving the skies a crisp and clear blue. But while many had stopped to admire the nice weather, there was one among the kingdom's denizens who had not so much as glanced outside once.

Kyle Nimbus stood before his painting isle, his hand working the brush carefully as he added the final touches to the portrait he was working on. He had been working on this portrait for the last two days in the privacy of his home studio, for once glad that he was still a bachelor living alone. His parents who lived just up the street had wondered why he had become so scarce in his visits but he had been able to appease them by saying that he was working on a very important commission. He had been thrilled, but then extremely nervous when he had been summoned by his majesty King Leonard. When both the king and Prince Consort had informed him of the nature of the task they wished to assign him, he had felt the full weight of the responsibility and the importance of it.

He had been tasked with rendering onto canvas the face of a killer, the assassin that had almost taken the lives of both the Prince Consort and Marquis Ramon. He had been sworn to utmost secrecy, to where he could not even tell his family and friends at the painter's guild, while their highness' had assured him that they would take care of things with his boss at the guild so that he would be allowed to work exclusively on this painting. Now as Kyle took a step back and gazed at the face he had rendered, he could not help but feel a bit uneasy. He had always been a gifted artist, it was why he was one of the best young artists in the kingdom according to his teachers, but right now as he stared at the painted black eyes of the man the Prince Consort had seen on the night of the Winter Solstice Ball, Kyle could not help but wish he were not so good an artist. Even as just a painting, this man, this evil man made something in Kyle twist nervously.

The feeling was made all the more worse by the knowledge that this man was still at large, could very well still be hiding out in the kingdom somewhere, and had proven to be a very dangerous individual.

Kyle quickly shook himself of his uneasiness and carefully picked up his finished painting to take it over to the special painting drying wrack he kept in his studio. He placed the painting in one of the slots and then pulled the small lever attached to the wrack. With a small click the wrack started lightly spinning. This contraption made it so that instead of taking full days to dry, a painting could be ready within a few hours, depending on the size and amount of paint used. By Kyle's estimation, this final drying would take a couple of hours. As he turned away from the drying painting, Kyle hoped that he had done a good job. He had spent several hours with the Prince Consort when he was making his initial sketches, asking for as many details as Barry could remember.

Now all Kyle could do was clean up and wait for the painting to finish drying so that he could transport it safely to the palace. The time went by, slowly but surely. Kyle went about getting himself ready for his audience with the King and Prince Consort, bathing and dressing appropriately. Since his head was devoid of any hair, he didn't have to wait for it to dry or fuss about combing and styling it. In the beginning he had been ashamed of his appearance, no hair on his head, not even eyebrows. Growing up had been rough, for children were often the cruelest since they did not know any better. But all the teasing and bullying had served to harden Kyle, and once he stopped caring about what other people thought regarding how he look, Kyle had flourished when he discovered his love of art, especially painting. Once he had entered the guild, his humble attitude and raw talent made him an instant favorite of his teachers, and the fact that he would go out of his way to help his fellow apprentices finally earned him some dear and life-long friends, along with respect for he was considered one of the best. The fact that King Leonard had asked for him personally was testament to that. Kyle did not let any of that go to his head, he was good, good enough to even do commissioned work for the kingdom, especially the nobility, but he was no master painter just yet.

As he gave himself a final once over in the mirror of his bedroom, Kyle just hoped that he had done right by the Prince Consort. During their meeting a couple of days ago, Kyle could not help but wonder just why anyone in their right mind would ever try to hurst someone like Barry, who had given up his whole life to come and make a new one here, who had adopted Nevar as his own and only ever wanted to serve the people to the best of his ability. Over the course of his own interactions with Barry, he had felt a kinship with the prince, who when not recounting the details of his would-be-killer's face had been genuinely interested in Kyle and the work the young painter did. It just made no sense whatsoever.

As Kyle made his way back down the hall to his studio, he couldn't help but shake his head. This whole situation didn't make sense because evil rarely ever did. Someone out their hated the Prince Consort enough to try and murder him. Kyle quickly shook himself of such thoughts as he checked the painting, deeming that it was sufficiently dry. He then went about attaching a a frame to the painting, choosing a plain black wooden one. The subject of the painting deserved nothing special. Once that was down, Kyle placed a protective covering over the whole thing before putting the painting inside the large satchel he used to transport his large paintings. Once he had the satchel strapped to his back, he headed outside.

Kyle made his way to the nearby livery stable were he kept his horse, a smokey gray mare he named Misty. He greeted the livery manager with a smile and headed in. Misty greeted him with soft knickers, to which Kyle grinned and petted her soundly before he went about gently saddling her. Once that was done Kyle led her outside by the reins and then mounted up. He had been instructed not to bring too much attention onto himself so Kyle trie dot be as casual as possible, walking Misty through the wide streets and nodding and greeting any familiar faces he came across. It was only once he was clear of the main city and on the path that led up to the palace that Kyle urged Misty into a light cantor. As the ornate gates of the palace came into view, Kyle could not help but feel his stomach twist into knots as his nerves rose up.

As he pulled Misty to a stop before the closed gate, Kyle did his best not to fidget as one of the gate's guardsmen, clad in heavy armor came forward as addressed him.

" Please identify yourself, and you business at the palace." The soldier said, his expression neutral behind his helmet and not giving away anything.

" My name is Kyle Nimbus, and I am here to see their Majesties the King and Prince Consort regarding a matter which I cannot openly discuss. I was instructed to show you this though." Kyle said as he reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a white card that bore the Nevarian royal seal.

He leaned over Misty to hand the card to the guard, who inspected it carefully before he looked up and nodded.

" Very well." The guard said before he turned and signaled to someone unseen.

There was a metallic clang and then the metal gates were swinging open before Kyle.

" Welcome to the palace Mr. Nimbus, please proceed along the path and wait at the main doors, someone will be their to receive you presently." The guard said formally.

" Thank you." Kyle said before he urged Misty forward.

The journey towards the grand front doors of the palace was equal parts too long, and too short as Kyle pulled on Misty's reins to halt her before he smoothly dismounted from her back. A stable attendant seemed to materialize out of nowhere to take Misty's reins, assuring Kyle that she would be looked after. Then there was a loud clang followed by a low groan as the doors to the palace slowly swung open.

Again Kyle did his best not to fidget as he waited to see who would be there on the other side of the doors. He didn't have to wait long as a man stepped over the threshold. It was General Mark Mardon, who smiled warmly as he greeted Kyle.

" Welcome back Mr. Nimbus." Mark said as he and Kyle shook hands, Kyle immediately relaxing a little.

" Good to see you as well General Mardon." Kyle replied as Mark led him inside.

Mark's eyes immediately went to the large satchel Kyle had strapped to his back. The General didn't say anything but Kyle sent him a look of confirmation.

" Their highness' will be pleased, especially King West." Mark said as he and Kyle ascended the grand staircase.

" I was happy to assist in any way I can." Kyle said with a smile.

Mark smiled back at the young man as he led Kyle to where the royals had convened once they had received word that Nimbus had arrived, Len's private study. When the pair reached the doors to Len's study, Mark stepped forward and knocked.

" Enter." Came the King's voice.

Mark turned the knob and held the door open, signaling for Kyle to step through first. The young man steadied his nerve and stood up straighter as he stepped across the threshold into the king's private study.

The moment he was inside, Kyle immediately caught sight of his King and Prince Consort stepping forward to greet him, the both of them smiling warmly. The king was dressed in a deep blue Tudor jacket with a glittering chain of silver and white gems draped around his shoulders, while the Prince Consort was dressed in a bright red Tudor jacket with a chain of gold with white and red gems, meeting at the center where the combined emblem of Nevar and Central Kingdom hung proudly over the Prince Consort's heart.

" Your Majesties." Kyle said, bowing in respect to his rulers.

" Rise Mr. Nimbus." Len said with a smile. Kyle straightened up and found himself face to face with Len and Barry.

" Welcome back to the palace." Len said warmly as he held out his hand. Kyle was stunned but quickly shook himself out of his stupor and reached out to grip Len's hand, shaking it before letting go and doing the same with Barry.

Len then turned to address the other people in the room.

" Allow me to introduce Mr. Kyle Nimbus, the artist that was commissioned to render the image of the assassin." Len explained with all seriousness.

" A pleasure to make your acquaintances." Kyle said as he stepped forward and bowed to the other people in the room.

There were nods and quiet words of greeting before all eyes turned back to Len and Barry. It was Barry who stepped closer to Kyle and spoke.

" You can set it up right there." He said quietly, pointing to the empty isle that had been prepared in front of Len's desk.

" As you wish your highness." Kyle said with a slight bow before he stepped over to the isle, taking the strap of the satchel off his shoulders and carefully setting it down on the floor.

He could feel the expectant eyes of everyone else in the room on him as he undid the clasp and pulled out the covered portrait. It was medium sized, just as Barry had asked for. Kyle did his best to keep his hands from shaking as he set the covered portrait down onto the isle. He then stepped to the side and looked to the others that were gathered.

" I hope that my rendering is satisfactory to you all." He said quietly before he finally pulled the protective covering off of the portrait and stood back.

There was a beat of silence as all eyes took in the face of Barry and Cisco's would be killer. Dante and Antonia both looked murderous as they gazed at the ugly countenance of the one who had hurt their youngest. Lisa too glared, looking pale with silent fury. Cisco, who looked just about healed, sat between his mother and Lisa, looking on the painting with hard eyes. This was the bastard that had tried to kill his best friend, and ended up ruining what was supposed to be a joyous night for him and Lisa. Len curled his lip in disgust, while Barry's face had gone pale and blank as he stared at the face of the man who had been haunting his dreams these last few days. Eddie gritted his teeth, while squeezing a livid-looking Iris' hand. Mark and Harrison both stood in grim silence as they took in the face for themselves. Then out of no where, Joe rose to his feet and stepped towards the painting, looking as if he had just seen a ghost.

" Dad?" Barry asked in concern as he rose to his feet and went to Joe's side, Iris, Eddie, and Len all stepping forward as well.

" Dad what is it?" Iris asked as she gently gripped her father's arm. Len eyed the way Joe was gawking at the portrait, seeing the recognition in his father in law's dark eyes.

" Dad, do you know who this son of a bitch is?" Len asked carefully. That seemed to snap Joe back to reality as he tore his gaze away from the portrait to gaze at his children, nodding before he turned his gaze back to the face Kyle had painted.

" You bet I know him, I'm the one who gave him that crooked nose when I buried my fist into his goddamn face." Joe growled.

Len felt his eyes grow wide at the revelation, his expression mirrored by everyone as Joe stepped forward and came to stand before the portrait, now glaring at it in full disdain. The with a low growl he turned to address everyone else in the room.

" This piece of shit is George "Digger" Harkness, former guardsmen of Central Kingdom, dishonorably discharged." Joe spat.

Barry could not believe what he was hearing, a former guardsman of Central Kingdom had been the one to almost end him? At the many looks of askance he was receiving, Joe sighed and forced himself to quash some of his anger as he spoke.

" Harkness was once a soldier under my command, very promising too. But he was also arrogant, and had an ego the size of the ocean. He'd get into petty fights and what have you until the day he nearly killed a senior officer over some petty squabble. I was a lieutenant at the time and was called in to help break up the fight. Harkness was drunk out of his mind simply wouldn't stand down, he bum-rushed me and me punching him square in the face was what finally brought him down." It was here that Joe snorted in disgust.

" Another thing about this asshole was his vanity, man was obsessed with his looks, held a grudge against me for ruining his 'perfect' nose. King Henry discharged him soon after the incident, but not before he hurled as many foul insults as he could at me, the Central Kingdom army, and even Barry's father before he was tossed out, lucky he didn't end up in the dungeons for half the vitriol he spewed. He disappeared after that, haven't heard heads or tails about him... Until now. " Joe said with a shake of his head.

" He probably became a killer for hire then, a former soldier like him could have easily turned his skills into income of the illegal kind." Mark said grimly, his own eyes glaring hatefully at the countenance of Digger Harkness.

Joe shook his head as he turned to eye Barry and Len.

" One thing I don't get is why Harkness resorted to using poison when from what I remember, his weapon of choice was blades, especially these boomerang blades that he could throw and they'd come back to him once they'd done serious damage to an opponent." Len gritted his teeth before he spoke.

" Remember, whoever is behind all this resurrected a long forgotten poison to try and kill my husband. I pretty sure this Harkness, used the poison because whoever hired him commanded as such, he's just the dog following his master's orders." He all but spat.

" And if this bastard's ego is as inflated as you say it is King West, I'm sure he's asked for a rather handsome payment, and said payment remains elusive to him since the job is not done. It's reason enough for him to still be foolish enough to stick around." Harrison said ominously.

Antonia cursed in spanish under her breath, her eyes swimming with angry tears as she continued to glare at the portrait. Dante wrapped an around around his mother, while Cisco reached out and took one of his mother's hands into his own and gave it a firm squeeze, Lisa reached out and covering their joined hands with her own. Antonia turned away from her glaring to eye her sons and Lisa in silent gratitude before she grew so deeply sad that it made even Mark ache as he eyed her.

There really wasn't much anyone could say after that. Barry wordlessly made his way across the room and threw his arms around his father, Joe hugging him back immediately.

" We finally have a name to go with a face. Thank you dad." Barry said quietly.

" We'll get him Barry, I won't let him hurt any of you." Joe vowed solemnly, his eyes meeting Len's steely blue ones, the two of then sharing a nod of understanding.

If Harkness was still in Nevar, no one would rest until he was found and brought to face justice from what he had done.

Len then turned his attention to Kyle, who was sanding off to the side in respectful silence. Len strode across the room and came to stand before Kyle with warm eyes.

" You have exceeded my expectations regarding this rendering. The agreement for you payment was two hundred silver coins, but I am of the mind that you deserve more than that. You will receive five hundred gold coins instead, along with my good word to your master." Len watched with a small smile as Kyle's eyes grew wide in astonishment.

"Y-Your Majesty I... I can't... you give me too much. I can't-" Kyle began to say when Barry smoothly cut him off as he too stepped forward.

" You can and you will Mr. Nimbus. Despite how unsavory the subject, your painting style exquisite. The next time we need to commission an official portrait, we're coming straight to you." The Prince Consort said with a bright grin, watching as Kyle flushed at the high praise as he bowed to his King and Prince. Lisa finally got up and made her way over to where Len, Barry, and Kyle were.

" Your highness." Kyle said with a bow before he took the hand Lisa held out to him and kissed it lightly.

" You have given face to the man who hurt my family Mr. Nimbus, I can't tell you how grateful I am to you. Please do not turn away your deserved rewards, and know that I speak for my whole family when I say that we would be honored if you accepted our patronage."

Kyle was speechless, out of everything he was expecting from simply doing as his king had asked, receiving the patronage of the combined royal family of Nevar and Central Kingdom had never once entered his mind. Kyle found himself unable to speak and instead just bowed again in gratitude.

There were smiles all around directed towards the humble young artist. Mark stepped forward though, a serious look on his face.

" I beg everyone's pardon, and not to draw away from the insurmountable help Mr. Nimbus has provided us today but would you agree with me your majesties that it would be best that we kept his involvement a secret for now?" Mark asked.

Len nodded, immediately understanding why Mark was saying this. He turned his attention back to Kyle as he spoke.

" This bastard Harkness, and the one behind him are still at large Mr. Nimbus, and since we now have his face I plan on plastering it all throughout the kingdom so that everyone knows just who we are looking for. The last thing I want is for this killer to seek any kind of retribution against you for aiding us." Len said seriously.

" It is why you swore me to secrecy my king." Kyle said with a nod.

" And to that secrecy we shall hold until this ordeal is over." Len said in confirmation.

After that the rest of the family gathered around Kyle, Antonia going so far as to kiss both his cheeks. By the time Kyle took his leave he had blushed more than he had ever done in his whole life from all of the complements and genuine inquiries the royals had made about him and his work as a professional artist.

Once that was done, Len had gone about ordering that Harkness's portrait be taken to every printshop in Nevar so that the printers could transcribe the image and make "wanted" posters that would be distributed throughout the whole kingdom and beyond it if necessary. This man was dangerous and had already proven how ruthless he was, snubbing out an innocent young man's life just for his clothes. If Harkness could be flushed out through this method than good, but Leonard also wanted his people on alert now that they had face and a name.

 _A few days later, at the estate of Lord James Jesse..._

" Are you sure about this Hart?" Axel Walker asked quietly as he eyed his friend with concern.

" Yeah Axel, I'm sure. Enough is enough." Hartley said just as quietly as they went about folding linens. Lord Jesse always wanted the sheets to be folded with exact precision, otherwise the servants could all look forward to a nasty beating.

There was a risk of that even without any of them 'screwing up' my Jesse's standard, ever since the wanted posters had started popping up all over the kingdom baring Harkness' face, Lord Jesse had been more hateful and cruel them normal, and a secret visit from Harkness the night before, threatening to skin him and everyone else in the house alive had certainly exacerbated things.

" I have the Cichol berries and Esaeced root." Hartley said with reassurance.

" It's still really risky Hartley, I mean are you sure you read the recipe right? It's too risky to look at the tome since we hid it when the master ordered everything to be destroyed." Axel said carefully, looking around anxiously.

" I memorized it Axe, I'm sure. Once I mix the berries and the root and drink it, it will simulate death. It's the only way I can think of to get away, if I just run, that old bastard might do something drastic to save his own ass, we're all witnesses to what he's done." Hartley whispered, his eye pleading.

An unhappy looking Axel nodded. There really weren't any other viable prospects. Hartley couldn't just runaway and get to the palace, for that would tip Jesse off. They were all witnesses to what the Lord Jesse had plotted, the assassination of the Prince Consort, the highest of treasons. He'd gut them all if he could, or would probably sic Harkness on them and kill two birds with one stone, on the one hand get rid of them the witnesses, and on the other hand that sick bastard Harkness would get to slake some of his bloodlust.

" You guys just be ready, stick to the plan we came up with." Hartley said.

Axel nodded and the two of them went back to folding the sheets. As he folded the white linens, Hartley was feeling both excited and terrified, for once sunset was upon Nevar, the plan to escape this hell and hopefully expose Lord Jesse for the madman he was would be put into motion.

The hours passed by with excruciating slowness, everyone in the Jesse mansion doing their best to act as normal as possible, although the silently afraid and anxious atmosphere was not anything new in the house, so Lord Jesses's suspicions were not aroused, the man to busy gloating about how he was just waiting for another chance to set Harkness on the royal couple of Nevar yet again, and this time the Prince Consort would surely be butchered.

Slowly but surely, the sun began to set into the horizon, bringing forth the night. It was just as the final slivers of light disappeared beneath the horizon that a shrill scream disturbed the oppressive silence of the Jesse mansion. More shouts and screams followed as more people made the terrible discovery and word quickly spread through the house.

" What the fuck is all that infernal racket about?" Jesse yelled from his study where he had been enjoying a nice glass of brandy. Grumbling, Lord Jesse rose from his chair and headed outside of his office. He entered the hallway just in time to see some of his servants rushing towards the downstairs where the servant's quarters were, if you could even call that dank dungeons space quarters fit for any human being to live in.

Jesse made his way towards the jagged stairs that led to the underbelly of his mansion, following after the servants he had seen and glaring at any unfortunate enough to cross his path.

When he reached the cavernous room where he forced his servants to sleep at night on simple cloth mats, Jesse saw that a crowd had gathered in the far corner.

" What is this? What is going on?" Jesse shouted as he barged forward, the crowd scrambling to part and the lord shoving those not fast enough out of the way himself until he reached the center.

There Jesse was greeted by a sight he did not expect. Laying sprawled over his mat and looking well and truly pale and dead was Hartley Rathaway, an empty vial held in his slackened fingers. There was a thin line of crimson dripping out the corner of his closed lips, clear indication that he had poisoned himself. Kneeling over Hartley was Axel, with tearing running down his face in torrents. He looked up when he caught sight of Jesse and spoke.

" M-My Lord, I was just coming down here to get Hartley to help with dinner when I found him like this... H-He's dead." Axel said with a sob.

Jesse's face curled into a disgusted sneer.

" Quit your sniveling you worthless dog, he offed himself so what? Just means I'll have to make another trip to the orphanage outside of town." Jesse said callously before he looked down his nose at the grisly sight of Hartley 'corpse'. Jesse even went so far as to use the tip of his foot to prod at Hartley's ribs for good measure.

" You know the drill, clean up the mess and get rid of him." Jesse said sternly before he turned his hateful gaze to the rest of the crowd.

" WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAD SACKS OF SHIT STILL DOING STANDING AROUND, GET BACK TO WORK! I WANT MY DINNER!" Jesse roared.

In an instant the crowd was scrambling to leave their horrid master's sight and get back to work, the old Lord missing the looks of relief that were passing between many of them. Once the crowd was gone, there was only Lord Jesse, Axel, and another servant, Tony Woodward.

" Bury him and be quick about it!" Jesse sneered before he sauntered off, grumbling about why Hartely couldn't have just killed himself upstairs so he wouldn't have had to come down the stairs to this rat hole as he ascended the stairs back up to the house.

Once Axel and Tony were sure that Jesse was gone, Tony and Hartley scrambled to wrap Hartley's body in his sleeping mat. They only had about an hour before the concoction Hartley had drank would wear off and he'd come back to consciousness.

The miraculous resurrection as it were.

Tony carefully took Hartley into his arms while Axel led the way up the stairs. Jesse was upstairs making things hellish yet again for everyone else, demanding that all of his favorite dishes be prepared even though he would be the only one eating.

Tony and Axel did their best to avoid Lord Jesse and made their way towards the back of the house which led to the back courtyard and the stables Lord Jesse kept. The two servants could feel the many eyes of their fellow servants, their fellow sufferers on them and knew the weight of the responsibility that was on them and on Hartley,dozens of lives depended on them, they couldn't afford to screw this up.

Axel and Tony made their way outside into the crisp air, the skies having grown completely dark. If every there was a time Axel was glad that this was all happening in winter when the days were short and the nights long, it was right now. Tony and Axel hurried towards the stable where Tony carefully laid Hartley's body down in the back of wagon that they would be using to transport him to the field like it had been used so many times when those who could no longer stand Lord Jesse's cruelty had chosen to free themselves the only way they thought was available.

Axel and Tony went about getting the rest of what they would need, such as shovels to dig up the earth in the field, torches and matched to provide light for the grim task. Though they wouldn't be burying a body this time, they would still need to dig a grave. In a way they already were in the figurative sense, digging a hole they could shove Lord Jesse into. But among the items, Axel also placed a burlap sack that was full of clean clothes and boots and some food as well. Once they had each donned some heavy work coats, Axel and Tony hitched the wagon to a pair of brown workhorses from the Lord Jesse's stables and then proceeded out of the back courtyard and down the road that led out towards Lord Jesse's fields.

Tony drove, while Axel sat in the back with Hartley. Tony was sure to drive at a sedate pace so as to not arouse suspicion, they were going out into the fields after sundown after all but were banking on everyone else having gone inside.

It was about have way to the field that Axel heard a soft groan. He was instantly hovering over Hartley, pulling the cloth of the mat away from Hartley's face. His eyes were closes, but even in the dimness Axel could see that he was frowning lightly, and his eyes were moving rapidly beneath his libs. Axel felt relief crash over him as he looked up to speak to Tony.

" Tony he's coming back, that stuff is working like he said it would." Axel said quietly, letting out a breathless laugh. Tony smiled as well before he urged the horses to pick up the pace a little. By the time the unofficial burial field came into view, Hartley was stirring.

" Come on man that's it, wake up Hart." Axel urged, rubbing at Hartley's cold hands and gently shaking him by the shoulder.

" Ooooh man that stuff tasted like ass." Hartley finally said with a grown as his deep green eyes fluttered open and he came back to full awareness.

" It was worth it thought." Tony said with a small laugh as he diverted the wagon off the road and headed towards a forested area, there was a road within it that led straight to one of the main roads into the city-state, and was also close enough to several farms so that any run ins with wild animals would be kept to a minimum.

That was the hope at least.

Hartely sat up and Tony brought the wagon to a halt. It was a mad scramble for Hartley as he reached for the burlap sack and started to change out of the simple shirt and trousers he was wearing and into the clothing Axel had provided him. He took a moment to quietly glare at his former attire, the meager clothing Lord Jesse had been so 'gracious' to provide him and his fellows before he turned to Tony and Axel. He threw his arms around the other two men as he spoke.

" Thanks for getting me this far, the rest is up to me, I'll make it to King Leonard and Prince Bartholomew or die trying, you and everyone else just hold on for a little while longer."

" We will man, we've survived this long. Just be careful Hart." Tony said as he and Axel drew back.

" You guys go and dig the grave like you're supposed to, I'm pretty sure that old piece of shit will come out to the field in the morning just to admire it." Hartley said with a disgusted glare.

" We will, now go Hart." Axel said as he gave Hartley a light push.

" Stay safe." Hartley said softly before he picked up the burlap sack that still had the food that had been packed for him before he headed off down the dark, wooded path.

Tony and Axel watched until they could no longer make out Hartley, his figure disappearing into the darkness. They wished that they could have given him one of the horses, but that would have been too suspicious.

Tony and Axel then climbed back up onto the wagon and headed off towards the field where so many lay buried and forgotten, praying that their friend would make it safely through the woods and to the palace so that these unfortunate souls could finally have justice along with those still living.

Tony and Axel took their time digging a grave that was convincing enough, even going down to almost six feet before they tossed Hartley's old clothes and sleeping mat into the hole, along with the empty glass vial that had contained the key to Hartley's clever escape to freedom before they filled up the hole and headed back to the Jesse estate, where Lord Jesse was sure to insult them for taking so long and rewarding them both by denying them any food that night.

It wasn't anything new, and neither of them minded much, for that night they, and the rest of the long suffering servants of the Jesse estate were all filled with hope.

 _Back in the forested area..._

Hartley was hyperaware of his surroundings, every crack of branches, every rustle of whatever leaves and foliage were left against the wintery climate. He wanted nothing more to just run all the way to the palace, but he knew that would be impossible and impractical. Instead he walked quickly, hoping to reach the main road as fast as possible. His back was aching though, the light jacket he was wearing rubbing against the still fresh welts he had received from Jesse's belt just a few days ago.

Hartley nibbled on a piece of bread from the burlap sack to occupy himself and ignore the dull ache of his injuries, his heart pounding wildly, but as the long minutes passed, Hartley saw that the torches that lit the main road were up ahead in the distance. Feeling elation, Hartley ran the rest of the way till he reached the main road.

As he saw the main city up ahead, Hartley pulled up the hood of the light coat he was wearing and proceeded forward, while the coat served to cover him, it provided little warm against the crisp Nevarian winter air. Considering the hours, people were still passing in and our on their way home to the outskirts or into the city-state. Hartley did his best to blend in with those coming in, not wanting to alert the guards. He wanted no delay in getting to the palace. Hartley kept his head down and walked along the cobblestone streets for a good hour until he reached a small square. It was here that Hartley needed to stop and rest for a bit and also dispose of the now empty burlap sack. As he took a moment to simply breath and taking in the people of Nevar all bundled up but bustling about their business in the city streets, Hartley finally caught sight of the gorgeous palace of Nevar looming up in the distance.

Hartley felt his heart soar, but then he quickly quashed down on the feeling. There had been many times in his twenty-eight years of existence where he had felt hope that things would get better, that he was finally saved, only for those hopes to be chewed up and spat back at him. Now was not the time for celebrating because he had not yet reached he palace, just caught sight of it. As he looked away, Hartley felt his heart freeze dead inside his chest as his eyes then fell on the face on the man that had been terrorizing him and his fellows for weeks now.

The wanted posters of George Harkness that were plastered all about the kingdom. Even with this the man had come to Jesses estate looking only mildly annoyed. He had even smiled at Hartley again as he left, a clear intent in his eyes. Hartley swallowed down the bile that rose up in his throat at the mere memory of that lecherous killer's smirk and instead he settled his resolve.

He had rested enough. With that in mind, Hartley started walking again, he needed to get to the palace as soon as possible.

 _Almost two hours later, just after midnight..._

The royal apartments were peacefully quiet, with the moonlight streaming in through the windows. In the bedroom, Len and Barry lay in each other's arms fast asleep, Barry on his back with Len pressed to his side holding him close. They had enjoyed a quiet dinner with their family, pleased beyond words that Cisco was now able to join then and enjoy solid food again. It would have been any other night, the entire palace peacefully asleep save for the night guard charged with the security of the palace throughout the night. However, the peace was soon shattered by the thunderous rapping against the doors to the palace that startled both Len and Barry awake.

" What the hell?" Barry asked groggily as the pounding on the door continued.

" You Majesties please wake up, its urgent!" Called a familiar voice from the other side of the doors that instantly had both Barry and Len alert.

" That's Mark." Len said, all sleep forgotten as he quickly climbed out of bed, Barry doing the same. They each threw on their respective sleeping robes over the sleeping shirts and pants they were wearing before they hurried out into the living room area of the apartments where Mark was still pounding away at the door.

" We're coming Mark!" Barry called, the urgent knocking instantly abating as Len grabbed the doorknob and yanked one of the doors open quickly.

It swung away to reveal mark Mardon, dressed in light armor and breathing hard, nearly vibrating with excited energy.

" Mark what is it? What's happened?" Len asked in concern. Mark took a deep breath and eyed his king and prince consort with all seriousness as he spoke.

" My king, my prince, you have to come quickly to the Healing Wing, something's happened. Something big." Mark said cryptically.

Len and Barry shared a look, both of their hearts starting to pound without even fully knowing what was going on. Without saying a word, the royal couple hurried back to their bedroom to each don some slippers before they joined Mark outside. As the trio began to head towards the Healing Wing, Len spoke.

" General what the hell is going on here? It's the middle of the night!" Mark bow his head before he spoke.

" My king, I was on night-watch duty and we had just finished the shift change of the palace guard when I received a call to come to the main gates, that there was a commotion going on. When I got there two of my guards were trying to calm down this young man. He wasn't fighting them or anything like that but he was in near hysterics and just about frozen solid. When I approached him he all but fell at my feet and started begging me to let him inside. I though maybe he was delirious from the cold until pulled me in close and spoke to me. After that he just collapsed so I carried him into the palace and called Lord Wells. He's tending to him as we speak."

" What did this guy say Mark?" Barry asked. It was here that Mark finally stopped for a moment to turn and face Len and Barry as he took a deep breath and spoke.

" The kid said that he had to see you both, to tell you who it was that hired George Harkness to kill you my Prince." Mark said.

Len's eyes grew wide in disbelief while Barry barely bit back a gasp of shock. Len reached out and grabbed Barry's hand, the both of them stunned as they resumed making their way to the Healing Wing with Mark leading them. Once they reached the archway into the Healing wing, Len ordered that the doors to the whole wing be shut before he followed Mark as the General led the way towards the private wing.

Once they were in the inside the private wing, Len, Barry, and Mark were greeting to the sight of Harrison, still clad in his own sleeping clothes looking over a young brunette man who was laying on one of the bed pale as a sheet and shivering violently.

" Harrison, what's going on?" Len asked as he, Barry, and Mark all drew closer.

" This young man is in dire straights my King, he's suffering from exposure. If I don't get him warmed up he's not going to survive.

" I'll get the fur blankets." Barry said immediately falling back into his training as a senior apprentice, beckoning Mark to follow him and provide an extra set of hands for the heavy blankets.

Len watched as Harrison took the young man's pulse and frowned, and at his look of askance the Chief Healer explained.

" His pulse is too slow, and his breathing's too shallow." Len nodded before he carefully drew closer to gaze at the young man.

He was handsome, there was no denying it, perhaps a few years older that Barry. He looked wrecked though, and slightly gaunt. His clothes were ragtag and in no way suited to withstand a Nevarian winter.

Barry and Mark returned, each of them carrying several large, heavy looking fur blankets in their arms.

" We need to get him out of these clothes." Harrison said.

Barry nodded and stepped forward, while both Mark and Len stepped back and turned around to get out of the way and afford the young man some dignity.

Dozens of questions swirled around in Len's mind, but he forced himself not to voice them for now was not the time. When Harrison and Barry proceeded to gently undo the buttons of Hartley's coat and pull of his boots respectively, Hartley's eyes grew wide with terror and he began to lethargically struggle against them, his eyes not seeing them but the nightmare.

" N-No... lemme go... you c-can't stop me... need to... need to get to t-the p-p-palace. Gotta warn... King... Prince. I'll stop you... Harkness!"

Harrison and Barry both paused as Hartley shouted out Barry's would me murderer's name, and a look over Barry shoulder told him that Len and Mark had both heard it as well. The are was charged and tense as Harrison and Barry got back to divesting Hartley of his sodden clothes and into the simple sleeping shirt for patients. When Harrison finally got the young man's shirt off, he stopped dead in his tracks, as did Barry, the both of then unable to hide their horror at the state of the young man's back, all of the old whipping scars that littered his pale skin, along with the still fresh welts from a recently received beating. And aloof at Hartley's feet and the wicked looking blisters that were forming on them only added to the dismay. Harrison looked quietly livid, while Barry was heartbroken as they quickly shook themselves of their shock and resumed their task. Once they had Hartley in the sleeping shirt, Harrison hurried off to the apothecary to get the warming tonic that was used in the treatment of cold exposure while Barry and Len took over piling as many of the fur blankets as they could onto the young man.

Harrison returned with the warming tonic and was glad to see the young man was all but buried beneath the furs. His breathing was still rapid but at least a little color had returned to his face. Harrison gently snaked a hand under the young man's head and lifted him up so that he could bring the mouth of the tonic bottle to Hartley's lips. The young man was barely lucid at this point and groaned softly at the bitter medicine that he was being urged to drink.

" I know it's nasty stuff, but it'll help you so just drink a little more." Harrison encouraged, smiling lightly as the young man obeyed and swallowed a few more mouthfuls before Harrison finally lowered him back down onto the bed.

Once Hartley had drifted off, Len and Barry immediate went to Mark and Harrison.

" You all heard him say that bastard's name." Len said, everyone nodding before Barry sighed.

" But what if it's all just the regular fear that Harkness is out there made worse by the delirium?" Barry asked with a helpless shrug. Mark shook his head.

" I don't think so my prince, when I saw him at the gate. The way he looked at me with all that desperation and fear, my gut tells me that he know's something." Mark said as he eyed the young man now sleeping fitfully a few feet away.

" He's going to have to make it through the night first before anything else. We don't even know his name at this point, just that he's been through some kind of hell." Harrison said grimly. At Len and Mark's looks of askance, Barry shook his head sadly. Later not now.

Len would sink to his knees and pray to every deity known to existence if it meant that this young man, who could potentially have the answers they so desperately needed, would survive the dangerous ailment that now gripped him.

About half an hour later, Harrison sent Len and Barry back up to bed despite their protests. Mark volunteered to keep watch over Hartley alongside Harrison, and assured the King and Prince Consort that he would post some extra men close to the healing wing for good measure. Barry and Len had bid them both an early morning, their eyes lingering on the unconscious young man before they both took their leave and headed back up to the royal apartments.

It was now that Harrison finally allowed himself to sit down and take a moment to breath. He had been fast asleep in his apartments in the palace when a guard had pounded on his door, jarring him awake and telling him that there was a medical emergency he needed to tend to fast. He'd thrown on a robe and so slippers before he had rushed to the Healing Wing, wondering if something had happened to any of the royals, another attack even. He had been stunned when instead he had come into the private ward and found Mark gently laying a delirious young man onto one of the beds.

" Just what the Hell is going on?" Harrison asked out loud.

" I wish I knew." Mark said with a sigh as he sank down in one of the empty beds next to the chair Harrison had taken a seat in.

" You gotta admit, he's a brave one." Mark added with a smile as he gazed at a sleeping Hartley. Harrison nodded, before he grew somber, remembering the sad state of the poor thing's back. While he wanted nothing more than to treat the welts he had seen, Harrison knew that those injuries would have to wait, and that the cold exposure took priority at the moment.

Harrison and Mark kept silent watch over the young man, and everything seemed to be stable until Harris reached under the fur blankets to press his fingers to Hartley's neck to check his pulse. Said pulse had barely improved, and Hartley was still not warmed enough to Harrison's liking.

Taking a moment to wrack his memory, Harrison soon remembered an old but effective method for treating someone suffering from exposure.

" Hey Mark, I'm gonna need you to take your armor and undershirt off." Harrison said while he was shedding his own robe and pulled of his sleeping shirt.

" Wha-?" Mark asked eloquently. Harrison didn't so much as bat an eye as he tossed his undershirt on top of his robe on a nearby bed, standing shirtless before his friend. Mark had to admit despite himself that the Chief Advisor and Healer of Nevar was still quite fit, but he quickly brought his head back to the present as Harrison spoke.

" Shared body heat Mark, the fur blankets alone aren't doing enough. If he's to survive we have to raise his core temperature, skin on skin contact."

With that, Harrison pulled back the fur blankets and then went about gently pulling the thin sleeping shirt off of Hartley, being careful not to jostle his patient too much before he wordlessly climbed into the bed. Said bed could just about take two people laying on their backs. Mark watched silently as Harrison gently turned the young man onto his side and wrapped his arms around him, holding him flush against his own body. Harrison then looked up expectantly at Mark, who then nodded when he saw that with Harrison and the kid laying on their sides, there was just enough room for him to squeeze in. Mark quickly divested himself of the light armor and undershirt he was wearing, toeing off his booths before he approached the two occupants of the bed and carefully climbed in.

" Just be careful, he's got injuries to his back." Harrison warned as he rubbed at Hartley's arms while the young man's head was tucked under his chin.

Mark inevitably looked to the aforementioned back and felt his heart seize at the horrifying sight that greeted him. He looked to Harrison with a silent question in his eyes. Harrison just gave him this sad look and shook his head lightly before he gestured for Mark to climb in. Being as careful as possible, Mark plastered himself against the young man's back, all awkwardness and hesitation forgotten after seeing the sad state the young man was in.

" Damn." Mark said softly, getting a first hand feel of how chilled the poor guy was.

" We'll get him warmed up soon." Harrison assured.

" I want to know who marked up his back." Mark said grimly.

" As do I Mark, as do I. This man's been tortured, and based on how old the scars appear, by my estimation its been going on since he was a child." Harrison said grimly.

Mark shook his head in disgust as he racked his eyes over the scare still visible on Hartley's upper back and shoulders. Mark and Harrison tapered off into quiet conversation after that, mostly about how the careful, undercover search Mark had conducted had disappointingly yielded nothing new regarding just how Samuel Scudder's cows had been stolen.

An entire hour went by like this, Harrison and Mark laying on their sides with the unconscious young man sandwiched between them. When Harrison checked the young man's pulse again, he was pleased to see that it was much improved, along with his temperature. There was actual color back in the young man's face. Harrison and Mark carefully got up from the bed, Harrison tucking the thick fur blankets around his patient until the young man was more or less cocooned in them. Any other time Mark would have cracked a joke as he and Harrison put their shirts back on, the general forgoing his armor. Instead Mark was somber as he sat on the empty bed next to Hartley's, while Harrison sank back into his chair.

They spent the rest of the night this way, the two of them taking turns in keeping watch over the mysterious late-night visitor to the palace. Harrison administered more of the warming tonic and treated his other injuries, the welts on his back, and the angry blisters on his feet, while Mark went stoked the fire in the private wards large fireplace to increase the warmth in the whole area. All the while the two of them hoped fervently that their efforts to keep the young man alive prevailed.

 _Several hours later, with the sun shining bright over Nevar..._

" Hmmm." Hartley groaned as awareness slowly came back to him. His eyes fluttered open and then immediate shut against the bright morning light. His entire body felt like lead, and he was tingly all over, a pins and needles like sensation.

" That's enough sleep, open those eyes now, it's time to rejoin the land of the living." Came a man's gentle voice from somewhere up above him.

" Huh?" Hartley asked as he slowly blinked his eyes open, adjusting to the bright morning light. Once his vision cleared, Hartley found himself staring up into the bluest eyes he had ever seen in his whole life.

They belonged to an equally handsome gentleman dressed in dark navy robes who was smiling kindly at him. It was a look that Hartley rarely ever saw save from his fellow captives. For a few seconds Hartley just gazed at the man before he finally forced himself to speak.

" Wh-Where... am I?" He asked. The unknown man's smile widened a little as he replied.

" You my friend, are currently in the Private ward of the Healing Wing of Nevar's royal palace." Harrison watched as the young man's eyes immediately grew wide, all grogginess forgotten as he suddenly sat up in bed ramrod straight.

" WHAT? I-I... I made it here?" Hartley stuttered, his eyes darting all over the place, taking in his surroundings in disbelief.

" Indeed, you made it to the front gate where you made quite the scene, and by the time Mark over here got you inside, you were nearly frozen to the bone." Harrison explained as he gestured to Mark who was standing beside him, smiling warming at Hartley.

Hartley gawked at them for a long moment, until he remembered that he wasn't here on holiday.

"Oh my God, the King and Prince, where are they, I must see them!" Hartley cried as he began to scramble out of bed. Harrison was on him in an instant.

" Uh-uh. The only thing you are going to do right now is lay back calm down." Harrison said sternly and he gently, but firmly gripped Hartley back the shoulders and pushed him back.

Mark had grabbed some extra pillows and wordlessly placed them behind Hartley, so that the young man was now propped up. He hated seeing the distressed look on the young man's face, but he agreed with Harrison, he was in no shape to be jumping out of bed.

" But you don't understand, please sir I have to tell them what I know!" Hartley said, his breath coming rapidly as cold anxiety washed over him. He tried to get back up but Harrison's hands were firm and unyielding.

" What is your name?" Harrison asked finally. Hartley stilled gazing at both Harrison and Mark with quiet fear as he spoke.

" M-My name... My name is Hartley Rathaway sir." He said softly.

" Well Mr. Rathaway, I am Harrison Wells, Chief Advisor and Healer for his Majesty King Leonard Snart." Harrison said as he let go of Hartley as stood up, holding out a hand to the lightly trembling young man.

After a moments of hesitation, Hartley reached out and took the offered hand, his eyes wide as he took in Harrison, now aware of the man's high rank. Both of them felt an instant spark pass between them, but Harrison quickly dismissed it, while Hartley was to anxious to really acknowledge it at all. When they let go, Mark stepped forward, smiling warmly as he held out his hand to the young man as well.

" Mark Mardon, Head General of Nevar, at your service." Mark said, his grin turning cheeky while a blushing Hartley too his hand. Hartley could not help but notice just how handsome both men were. He quickly quashed the feeling though as he remembered the previous night's events.

" I-I remember you, you were there outside when I reached the gate. Th-Thank you for bringing me inside." Hartley said. If the look of pure gratitude on the young man's face made Mark's eyes burn a little, he hid it well as he smiled at Hartley and nodded.

" Think nothing of it." Mark said as he withdrew his hand.

There was a beat of silence before Hartley spoke.

" I-I have information about what's been going on and-" He began, when Harrison held up his hand, and he instantly fell silent.

" Be that as it may, right now King Leonard and Prince Bartholomew are still having breakfast, and it is high time you had some as well. So besides the chicken soup I am prescribing, what else would you like?" Harrison asked. He and Mark frowned lightly when Hartley just blinked at them owlishly before he spoke.

" I-I get to chose?" He asked uncomprehendingly.

Now it was Harrison who had to blink back the sudden burning of his eyes as well. He and Mark both kept themselves composed as Harrison smiled and spoke.

" Yes, whatever you want." Harrison said evenly.

Hartley let out a shaky breath, completely overwhelmed. For the past twenty years all he and his servants had ever known were the scraps from Lord Jesse's table, or the disgusting, tasteless porridge he would allow them to have when he was feeling 'generous'. Now that Lord Wells had told him he had a choice, Hartley really didn't know what to make of it.

" I just... I don't." Hartley stuttered, his throat closing up a little. Thankfully Mark stepped in.

" Hey now, how about I go and get you a little bit of everything?" He asked.

Hartley looked up at Mark with wide-eyes, having never before seen such kindness directed towards him from anyone other than his fellow servants back in the Hell he had escaped. Unable to speak against the powerful emotions rising up inside him, Hartley could only nod his head, completely overwhelmed.

Mark nodded and smiled sadly before he stepped away to do as he said he would, and if he dashed a hand across his eyes, well no one was around to see it. Once Mark was gone, Harrison went about assessing his patient, being as gentle and careful as possible. Hartley did his best to stay still as Harrison lifted the back of the loose sleeping shirt had had given Hartley to take a look at the young man's back. It was foreign to Hartley, having someone treat him so respectfully, asking him if he was in pain, and just being so nice in general.

Treating him like he was a person instead of a thing to be used and discarded.

There was so much Harrison wanted to know about his patient, like where he had come from and what had drove him to walk until his feet were blistered and his body frozen almost to its core. Instead Harrison kept his questions squarely on how Hartley was doing. While his feet were sore and his back was aching, Hartley was already doing way better. Harrison would have to monitor him closely, and especially keep an eye out for any signs of a fever.

A few minute later, Mark was coming back into the private ward with a tray in his hand. Hartley's eyes grew comically wide as he took in the tray full of food that was set down before him. There was a steaming bowl of chicken soup with some bread sticks on a plate next to it, a plate of fluffy, scrambled eggs, freshly cut fruit, a plate of small pastries, a glass of orange juice, and a small plate containing an assortment of breakfast meats, like strips of steak and small sausages. He looked between Harrison and Mark, a silent question in his bright green eyes, as if to ask if all of it was for him.

Harrison and Mark both felt their hearts lurch at the look of naked wonder on Hartley's face. It was humbling, and heartbreaking to see someone look so amazed by what was considered a standard Nevarian breakfast.

" Just be careful with the soup, it's still really hot." Mark warned with a warm smile.

Hartley's stomach chose that moment to let out a loud groan. Hartley ducked his head as his face turned bright red, but neither Harrison nor Mark laughed at him like he was expecting. Instead they kept smiling warmly as Harrison spoke.

" Just eat slowly so that you don't make yourself sick, alright?" Harrison said.

Hartley nodded, watching as both Harrison and Mark stepped away from his bedside, wordlessly giving him some privacy he didn't even know he was entitled to. The two men went off to talk by the doors to the private ward, still in sight, but far enough away to where Hartley felt some of the self-consciousness ease. As he gazed at the the tray in from on him, Hartley found himself overwhelmed, trying to decide what to eat first. Hesitantly, Hartley reached out and picked up a piece of bread and dipped the end of it into the hot soup. He then brought the soup soaked end of the bread to his mouth and bit down on it.

The moment the taste registered, Hartley let out a small, desperate noise and promptly devoured the rest of the bread. He was about to go to town on the rest of the food, until he remembered what Harrison had said. Taking a deep breath and feeling his eyes burn, Hartley picked up the fork on the tray and started to slowly eat the scrambled eggs. With tears silently streaming from his eyes he enjoyed his first real meal free of Lord Jesse's tyranny.

" I don't care if he actually knows anything or not about who's behind Harkness, I am going to hunt down the sick son of a bitch responsible for that poor thing's state." Mark said grimly as he and Harrison subtly watched Hartley eat his breakfast.

" Be patient my friend, with how eager he is to tell us what he knows, I get the feeling he'll give up whoever it was in a heartbeat. Abuse such as Mr. Rathaway has suffered instills either total compliance, or gives rise to the desire for vengeance. I believe our guest falls into the latter category." Harrison said as he took in the way Hartley's hands were shaking as he fed himself spoonfuls of soup and ate the other items on the tray slowly, just as Harrison had instructed. Slowly but surely, Hartley ate everything on the tray, save for the plate of meats. Try as he might, Hartley just couldn't do it, the memories still too raw.

Feeling full in a way he never had been in all his life, Hartley moved to get up and take care of his plates as he had done all his life, he was stunned when instead Harrison and Mark materialized at his bedside again, Mark taking the tray from him without comments about the meat items that were left untouched and Harrison once more gently telling him to lay back before tucking the blankets around him again.

It was the strangest feeling having not one, but two men wait on him after a lifetime of horrid servitude. Hartley really couldn't wrap his head around it. But the young man quickly shook himself of these thoughts. He was not here to enjoy the kindness and hospitality of the Palace, he was here to put an end to his horrible master's madness.

" L-Lord Wells." Hartley asked as Harrison was preparing some medicine for him.

" Yes Mr. Rathaway?" Harrison replied, looking up from the tonic he was preparing to help Hartley fight any oncoming illness. He had the sinking feeling that the young man was not inoculated against certain illnesses like the rest of the kingdom was.

" Please my Lord, call me Hartley, I am no gentleman." Hartley shyly. Harrison nodded with a smile.

" Whatever makes you more comfortable, Hartley." Harrison said, pleased to earn a genuine smile from his patient before Hartley grew somber once more.

" My Lord, I must speak with their Majesties the King and Prince Consort. I can't let what's been going on continue for another minute longer." Hartley said, his eyes going hard with determination. Harrison nodded before he turned to Mark.

" General, it's time his Majesty the King and his Highness the Prince Consort finally meet their important guest." He said.

Mark nodded, and sent Hartley a smile before he stepped away and proceeded out of the Private ward to go and inform Len and Barry that it was finally time.

About ten minutes of anxious anticipation later, Hartley looked up to see two men, dressed in Royal finery enter the private ward. Hartley's eyes grew wide in wonder, and he scarily breathed as he took in his rulers.

King Leonard was dressed in a Tudor style Jacket of deep blue with a silver filigree overlay, he had forgone the floor length sleeveless overcoats he would have usually worn, not wanting to me more intimidating than he already was. Draped over the King's shoulders was a gleaming chain of silver and white gems at the center of which hung the combined Nevarian snowflake and Central Kingdom lightening bold in exquisite platinum. Beside him was Prince Bartholomew, dressed in a deep red Tudor jacket with a chain of bright gold filigree circles with a bright red ruby situated in the center of each. They were resplendent together as the true royalty they were. The king looked serious, while the prince eyed Harley warmly, if somewhat anxious.

" Your Majesties." Hartley said shakily, moving to stand up on instinct.

Len instantly held up his hand shaking his head.

" That won't be necessary Mr. Rathaway." Len said as he and Barry came to stand at the foot of Hartley's bed.

Hartley felt his heart pounding against his sternum, feeling too overwhelmed with warring relief and anxiety as he averted his gaze in the presence of the royals.

" You were brave enough to reach the gates of the palace in the state you were in last night, and I have it on good authority that the first thing you wanted to do when you woke up was talk to us both, so I know you can look us in the eye Mr. Rathaway." Len said.

Hartley clenched his fists tightly to keep them from trembling as he forced his eyes back up. When his eyes met Len and then Barry's, he say only warmth and cautious curiosity. There was a beat of charged silence before Barry stepped around the bed and took a seat down over the edge, never taking his eyes off Hartley as he spoke with a reassuring smile.

" You're safe here, and I'm really glad that you pulled through after last night," He began.

" Th-Thank you, your Highness." Hartley stuttered. The smile slowly disappeared from Barry's face as with a sigh, he spoke.

" You risked you life to speak to us, my husband and I would like to hear what you have to say." Barry said quietly, Len coming up behind him and placing an hand on his shoulder, which Barry instantly reached up and covered with his own.

 _(Author's note: Please try listening to the track " Murder in Urbino" from the soundtrack to the TV show, The Tudors Season 1)_

Hartley took in a deep, rattling breath to steady himself as he spoke.

" I won't go into some long winded story about the cruelty of fate your majesties, much has been going on in secret, but my main truth is that the person who hired Digger Harkness to poison Prince Bartholomew is Lord James Jesse, my master, well former master really." Hartley said bluntly, disgust tinting his tone at the mere mention of Lord Jesse's name.

It was like the air got knocked out of the whole room, Mark barely stifling a curse while Harrison looked from Hartley to Len and Barry. Barry gaped at Hartley as the young man's revelation sunk in, while Leonard simply stood there stoned-faced, his eyes like two orbs of ice. His tightened his hold on Barry's shoulder, as he finally spoke.

" You realize that you could be imprisoned for the rest of your life should we find out that you're lying about this?" Len asked grimly.

Instead of cowering in fear, they all watched as a humorless smirk spread across Hartley's face, his eye getting a faraway look as he spoke.

" I have been a prisoner since I was eight years old, when Lord Jesse took me from the orphanage just outside of the kingdom. I'm twenty-eight years old now my King. Like a fool, I thought it was out of kindness, that I would finally have a home, a place to be safe and happy." Hartley said before he looked up to meet Len and Barry's gazes.

" All I got was Hell at that fucking bastard's hands for the last twenty years. Me and the rest of the servants in Lord Jesse's accursed estate are not his employees, we are his slaves."

" What do you mean by that?" Barry asked, horrified at the mere thought.

" Exactly that my Prince, servants are treated like human beings, they get paid, they get to leave, but most of all they have dignity. All I have for my twenty years of service to Lord James Jesse are the scars on my back. He loves the strap you see, and the cat o'nine tails too, and starving us even when we haven't done anything wrong." Hartley said hollowly.

Barry's eyes began to burn, the Prince unable to even fathom such cruelty. Len barely kept his own composure as well, using everything he had not to let out the cold rage that rose up inside him. When he had come to the throne he had done all in his power to abolish and outlaw the barbaric ways of treating those in one's service allowed under his father's regime. It now looked like in addition to being a cruel and disgusting gossip, Lord Jesse was one who clung to the old ways. Taking in a steadying breath Len spoke.

" Do you know where Lord Jesse acquired the poison intended for my husband?" He asked.

Hartley closed his eyes for a moment as the horrible memories of what had happened to Lord Scudder's cows came to mind. Taking in a deep breath, Hartley spoke.

" I do not know from where it came from, most likely on the black market, but one day many months earlier Lord Jesse was suddenly pouring over this large book that looked old and had all manner of horrible looking pictures in it. We would all hear him giggling in his study as he looked over some of the pages that had these pictures of animals cut into sections, along with people too. Then one day he ordered us to clear out all of the cellars, even the rooms that were our quarters, and there were workers there suddenly tearing down walls and the stone on which the house sits. They started digging relentlessly until there was this dark tunnel that led to someplace we didn't know, and Lord Jesse would beat us bloody if we dared go near it." Hartley explained, before he barely big back a shudder. Harrison's eyes widened in alarm as Hartley continued.

" Then a few nights after the tunnel was complete, Lord Jesse ordered us downstairs and when we got there, there were all of these cows suddenly corralled right by the mouth of the tunnel."

The moment Hartley said these words, a jolt went through everyone.

" Cows?" Harrison asked. Hartley nodded.

" Yes, four or five at a time, every night there would be more. It didn't take long for us to see that these were cows from the Scudder farms, they had the brands on them and everything and the brand is the same as the one that we always saw stamped on the packages of meat we'd get from the market."

It was a another jolt of shock through everyone at this revelation. It was Harrison who spoke.

" Hartley, what did Lord Jesse do with those cows?" He asked, although he had a singling feeling he already knew the answer.

What little color was left on Hartley's face disappeared completely as he remembered the full horror.

" H-He started with one cow, feeding it this strange concoction of herbs and berries that smelled nasty. Then when that poor cow died, he ordered that it be cut open and the juices from its insides be collected and then mixed with the same concoction of herbs and berries and then forced into the next cow. On and on this went, so many of those animals were just senselessly used and discarded so that Lord Jesse could make that damned poison."

Silence reigned after this, Mark, Len, and Barry all looking to Harrison in askance. The look on Harrison's face, the grim confirmation that Hartley indeed knew what he was talking about regarding the distillation process of the poison, chilled Len, Barry, and Mark to their cores.

It was Mark who broke the silence first.

" Where does Harkness come in?"

Hartley could only shrug helplessly.

" He was just there, materializing out of the shadows, arguing with Lord Jesse about using the poison. He didn't want to use it but Jesse withheld payment. He always wants things his way. On the night of the Winter Solstice, Harkness came back to the house in the dead of night and started arguing with Jesse, and we all heard him say that he wasn't going to stop until he slit your throat by his own hand my Prince. He was even at the estate a couple of nights ago. He had some of those wanted posters with him and he shoved them in Jesse's face before they started fighting again. He was just so angry." Hartley said as he looked to Barry with pained eyes.

Barry shut his eyes and breathed deeply to keep himself calm, Hartley's words were obviously upsetting. Barry looked up at Len and the two shared a look, pain giving way to shared anger and disgust. They kept their composure and turned their attention back to Hartley. It was Barry who spoke.

" Lord Scudder's cows stopped disappearing the night of the Ball. Is it safe to assume that Jesse destroyed all of the evidence?" He asked grimly. With a sigh, Hartley nodded his head.

" You are correct your Highness, after everything went wrong, he ordered everything to be burned and buried. The carcasses of the dead cows were burned and the ashes spread over the gardens. The cows that were still alive were slaughters and now stock his pantry, he even enjoyed a nice stew on the night of the Ball that was made from them." Hartley said in disgust.

His disgust was shared by the others, Mark shaking his head while Len clenched his jaw tightly. Barry just looked sad, while Harrison clenched his fists at his sides. Harrison then spoke.

" What about the forbidden tome Jesse got the recipe from, is that lost as well?" He asked.

They all watched, slightly taken aback, as a small, satisfied smile spread across Hartley's face as he spoke.

" As far as _Lord_ Jesse knows, it was burned along with the dead cows. What really happened was that two of my friends Axel and Linda were able to switch the book out at the last minute and rip it up like Jesse had ordered the tome to be. It was dark the night he was getting rid of the evidence, so the book looked exactly the same and was burned before our master's eyes. We then hid the book away in a place Jesse would never suspect and acted normally." The young man explained.

This caused all four men surrounding Hartley to break out into smiles. Barry grinned brightly, Mark as well. Harrison smiled quietly, eying Hartley with something akin to admiration, while Len eyed the young man and smiled warmly as he reached out and placed his hand over Hartley's head.

" You have my eternal thanks Hartley Rathaway, you and your fellows." Len said with conviction before he drew back. Hartley ducked his head shyly.

" They're my family, we're all orphans, all we have are each other." Hartley said quietly. Then a thought struck Barry.

" Hartley, if you had just run away, I'm sure everyone and their mother would have heard about it from Jesse, but all we got from him this morning is his usual petty complaints about his neighbors. So I have to ask, how did you escape without him knowing?"

Hartley ducked his head for a moment before he forced himself to meet Barry's imploring gaze as he spoke.

" As far as Lord Jesse is concerned, I died last night." Len frowned in confusion.

" What do you mean?" Taking in a deep breath, Hartley explained.

" My former master is cruel and insane. Over the years he has brought many of us orphans into his household to serve him. While most of us learned to live with his cruelty... it was too much for some, so they freed themselves the only way they thought they could, by slitting their wrists, swallowing the rat poison Lord Jesse keeps in stock, one even used the bedsheets to make a noose last year. Others have died from going hungry, or getting sick. Our master would tell us that if we got sick, we could either get better and get back to work, or we could die and spare him the trouble of keeping such weaklings in his household."

The four gazes filled with open horror were lost on Hartley, his voice detached and his eyes far away as he continued.

" Whenever there is a suicide, he orders us to clean up the mess and take the body out to his farthest field to be buried their and forgotten. That whole field is a field of bones that goes back to before I was even born. What my former master doesn't know is that I looked through his tome in secret, when he was either passed out drunk or out for the day. It was while I was glancing through the pages that I found this one recipe for something called Death's Sleep."

Harrison inhaled sharply, his eyes growing wide in shock as recognition dawned on him. In an instant he was grabbing Hartley by the shoulders and looking the young man square in the eye as he spoke

" Cichol berries and Esaeced root." Harrison said grimly.

" Yes Lord Wells, that's what I used." Hartley said quietly with a nod.

The next thing they all knew, Harrison was gone in a flash of dark robes, running out of the private ward and disappearing into the apothecary before anyone could said anything. He was hurrying back in a few moments later with a small vial of reddish looking liquid. Harrison popped the cork on the vial and he came back to Hartley's side.

" Drink this now." Harrison ordered sternly.

Hartley wasted no time as he took the offered vial and downed its contents in one gulp.

" Harrison what's going on?" Len asked in concern. Harrison turned to Len and explained.

" Death's Embrace is a concoction made from mixing Cichol berries and Esaeced root. When one drinks it they will fall into a suspended state where they will appear to be dead, everything from pulse to breathing slows down to the point of becoming non-existent. The effect only lasts for about an hour before the drinker regains consciousness. The recipe can only be found in the forbidden tome, the only copy thought to remain is here in the palace vaults under the lock and key, only his majesty the King has the key." Harrison said before he turned to Hartley who was doing his best not to make a face at the bitter aftertaste of the medicine he had just ingested.

" Jesse truly does possess a copy of this forbidden tome, for the recipes Hartley here described cannot be found anywhere else."

" But aren't Cichol berries and Esaeced root considered simple weeds?" Barry asked.

" They are now, but years ago these plants were highly coveted for their effects. But then it was discovered that a side-effect of the combination was temporary hearing loss in one or both ears that would become permanent if not treated within a few days of the hearing loss manifesting."

Hartley gasped is dismay, looking fearfully to Harrison who reached out and gripped the young man's shoulder in assurance as he continued to explain.

" Thankfully, the Healers of Nevar came up with a tonic, the one I gave to Mr. Rathaway just now that prevents the side effect. It was under King Richard Snart's reign that the use of these plants, and the tome itself were outlawed, and over the years forgotten, just like the poison Jesse resurrected. The berries and the root now grow about with no one the wiser of what they can do when combined, and the dangerous side-effects."

" Am I gonna be alright?" Hartley asked, feeling his insides freeze at the revelation about the side effects. Harrison reached out and placed a gentle hand of Hartley's shoulder.

" Yes, even though what you did was both incredibly brave and recklessly stupid, the medicine I just gave you will neutralize anything left in your system." Harrison assured.

Hartley sagged in relief, Len, Barry, and Mark also letting out breaths they didn't even realize they were holding. After that, Hartley went on to recount how his friends Tony and Axel had snuck him out of Jesse's estate under the guise of burying him in the field like so many had been before him and how he had walked all the way from the Jesse estate to the palace in the bitter cold.

Barry reached out and gripped Hartley's shoulder as he spoke, his eyes slightly over bright.

" You risked so much to get here and tell us the truth, we weren't having much luck with the wanted posters, and the searches we conducted on Lord Scudder's farm yielded nothing. You gave the answers we desperately needed. How can we ever repay you Hartley?" Barry asked, while the others all nodded in agreement.

It was here that Hartley finally sagged in exhaustion, his front of anger and determination slipping away to reveal the sorrow beneath. With a shaky breath and with his eyes filling, Hartley spoke to Len.

" Y-You believe me your Majesty?" He asked softly, seemingly not believing it.

" Your story is compelling, and Harrison is more than qualified to validate the dark arts you described. We will need physical proof of Lord Jesse's crimes, but yes, I do believe you." Len said firmly.

" W-Will you... Will you help the others?" Hartley asked as tears began to fall from his eyes. To the young man's shock, Len made his way around Barry and then reached out, gently taking Hartley by the shoulders as he spoke.

" They helped you get out so you could tell us the truth, and you said that they were the ones who kept the tome from being burned. You have my word Hartley Rathaway, I will not allow them to remain in such torment. James Jesse has abused his privileges as a nobleman of Nevar, and he had committed direct treason toward the crown by plotting to assassinate my husband the Prince Consort. I will not rest until I make him pay dearly for what he has done, both to my family, and to yours. I will not spare him, or Harkness." Len said firmly, meaning every word.

Hartley finally crumbled, silent sobs wracking his body as he spoke through his tears of sheer relief.

" Th-Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I-I swear I'll earn my keep." He gritted out.

" You will do no such thing Hartley Rathaway. You're days of servitude are done. You will stay in the palace to recover, and remain as the honored guest of my husband and myself." Len declared, his voice wavering slightly.

He glanced at Barry, who didn't even bother to hide his tears. Mark smiled warmly, his own eyes slightly red, while Harrison reached up to subtly wipe something away out the corner of his own eyes.

" You're safe now Hartley, and I swear to you as your King, and more importantly as a grateful husband, you will all have justice." Len said.

This was what finally broke Hartley's tenuous hold on his composure as he let out a choked gasp and then began to weep without shame.

Len let go of one of Hartley's shoulders so that he could place his hand over the young man's brown haired head. Barry reached out and gripped one of Hartley's wrists while Harrison and Mark both drew closer in silent support. As Hartley finally gave in to the catharsis of letting everything he was feeling out, Len, Barry, Harrison, and Mark all shared a silent look together, the promise in all of their gazes clear.

The madness and cruelty of Lord James Jesse would come to an end, and they would not rest until they saw it done.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Warning: Sexual Content and Sensuality in this chapter

Chapter 19

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" He is to want for nothing." Len said to Harrison as he and Barry turned their gazes to Hartley where the young man now law fast asleep once more. After Hartley had told his harrowing tale and wept until he had no tears left the young man had been so exhausted that Harrison had not even needed to give him any sleeping medicine to knock him out.

" Rest assured my King, I will see to that personally." Harrison said in assurance. He, Len, Barry, and Mark were all standing by the entrance to the private ward so that they could speak without disturbing Hartley, though the eyes of all four men would occasionally glance the sleeping young man's way.

" We have the advantage that he faked his death and Jesse doesn't suspect anything, but what else would you have me do for Hartley's protection your majesties?" Mark asked Len and Barry.

" For now let's all do what we can to ensure that Hartley recovers his strength." Len said, everyone nodding before Barry spoke.

" I think it would be a good idea if we kept this under wraps for now, just tell our inner circle and then come up with a cover story for Hartley." The Prince explained.

" I agree, Harkness is still out there and he's proven how slippery he is, and Jesse." Len said, his eyes flaring almost white with cold rage at the mere mention of the man who plotted to kill his beloved husband and very nearly killed his future brother-in-law. Len kept his temper in check as he spoke grimly.

" Jesse still poses a threat to the rest of the house hold, those Hartley considers his family, we can't have that old bastard finding out Hartley's alive at any cost, who knows what he might do to those poor souls he's still got trapped at his estate."

" I wish we could free them faster." Mark said with a shake of his head.

" I know Mark, I feel the same, but we have to go about this with a plan. Before we all just thought Jesse was a gossip, a hurtful one, but harmless, now Hartley's revealed to us just what kind of evil James Jesse is capable of." Len said before he sighed deeply.

" Like I said, for now let us focus on getting Hartley back on his feet, after all he's been through it is the least we can do."

" I will monitor his condition diligently your majesties." Harrison vowed.

" As I will guard him with my life your majesties." Mark added.

Len and Barry both nodded solemnly at two of their most trusted advisors, and more importantly, friends. Mark and Harrison both bowed to their rulers before Len dismissed them. Len and Barry took their leave of the Healing wing, while Harrison and Mark both made their way back to the side of the sleeping young man they had all sworn to protect.

Len and Barry walked side by side up the main hallway towards the nearest flight of stairs, the two of them silent and honestly, quite numb after everything that had been revealed to them by an extraordinarily strong and brave young man. As they climbed the stairs, Len wordlessly reached out and took Barry's hand into his own and squeezed. Barry wrapped his fingers around Len's, squeezing his husband's hand almost painfully tightly. They didn't turn to look at each other or say anything, just kept ascending the stairs together in charged silence.

Their hands remained joined as they reached their desired floor and made their way down the hall passed the guards keeping ever vigilant watch. They came to stop at a pair of stately arched doors that had ornate carvings of bears and the forrest on them. These were the doors to the luxurious apartments Len had ordered to be prepared for Joe when they had dispatched Mark to bring their Central Kingdom family here in the midst of the near tragedy that had befallen them. It was also where Len and Barry had asked their family to stay after they had finished with breakfast and they had taken their leave to finally meet with Hartley. They could both hear the muffled voices coming from behind the door, no doubt their family talking amongst themselves. Len finally turned to Barry, who met Len's gaze and gave his husband's hand another firm squeeze before Len nodded mutely and reached out to knock on one of the doors to announce his and Barry's arrival.

A few moments later the doors were pulled open to reveal Joe himself, his eyes immediately falling on his son and son-in-law. Though his eyes were eager, Joe smiled as he welcomed Barry and Len into his rooms. Greetings were exchanged, along with a few hugs and kisses, especially from Antonia. Barry felt some of the heaviness leave him as he hugged Cisco, who was now fully recovered and back to his duties as Barry's page. Ronnie and Caitlyn were in attendance as well. Barry and Len sat down in one of the comfortable sofas of Joe's living room area and mingled with their loved ones for a bit before Eddie finally voiced what everyone else wanted to ask.

" Not to pry or anything but where'd you guys run off to so quickly after breakfast without either Ronnie or Cisco?" He asked.

Barry and Len shared a look before Barry spoke first.

" We're sorry about that Eddie, but guys, something's happened, something huge." Barry explained. In an instant the atmosphere changed, everyone grown alert. It was Cisco who spoke.

" What happened Barry? Does it have anything to do with what happened to me?" He asked quietly.

Barry nodded mutely before he scrubbed a hand over his face, with Len still holding his other hand Barry spoke to answer Cisco.

Barry explained how he and Len were abruptly woken up in the middle of the night by a frantic Mark, who them escorted them to the Healing Wing, informing them about a young man who had nearly frozen to death trying to gain an audience with them.

" His name is Hartley Rathaway, and he's the one who revealed who was behind the attack on the night of the ball, the one who hired Harkness." Barry said softly.

" Who is this bastard Barry?" Joe asked, his voice hard. Barry took a deep breath to keep his own anger in check, while Len quietly fumed beside him as he spoke.

" Lord James Jesse."

There was a beat of silent before all hell broke loose. Lisa rose to her feet and made for the door, a look of raw rage on her face, like she wanted to go out and get to Jesse all on her own. It took both Len and Barry to grab her and hold her back. Antonia was no better, but Joe was quick to halt Cisco's mother from getting out of the room, while Cisco grabbed Dante's arm just in case. Iris moved to help Len and Barry calm Lisa down while Eddie did his best to help Joe do the same for Antonia. This chaos reigned, with everyone talking over everyone until Leonard finally had enough.

" ENOUGH!" He roared.

In an instant the living room grew deathly silent, all eyes locking in Len as he spoke.

" Now, everyone please calm down and take a seat so we can tell you the full story." He said firmly, giving Lisa an added look. Lisa deflated and nodded, still looking angrier than a rattlesnake that got stepped on as she and an equally furious Antonia both retook their seats with Cisco and Dante. Everyone else reclaimed their seats as well before Len spoke.

" Please forgive my earlier outburst, and I understand you all want a piece of Jesse for the pain he has inflicted but please, we can't do anything rash." There were reluctant nods from everyone, even Lisa and Antonia as Len continued where Barry had left off.

He told everyone of how Harrison and Mark had kept vigil over Hartley, and how through their efforts and Hartley's sheer will to live, the young man had pulled through.

" When we left you all, it was so that we could speak to Hartley and hear what he had to say." Barry said, sadness spreading across his face, Len reaching up and placing his hand on Barry's back between his shoulders as he sighed and spoke.

" Hartley's story is horrifying, he told us that he was eight years old when Jesse took him from an orphanage under the guise of kindness and then put him to work, with many others. The conditions Hartley described... they..." Len took a deep breath before he continue.

" Let's just say, you would treat a dog with more regard than Jesse has these unfortunate souls." Joe shook his head in disgust.

" Orphans, so no family, no one to ask after them. Works out well for this Jesse, gets to do whatever the Hell he wants." Len nodded.

" Hartley described himself and his fellows as Jesse's slaves. He told us that he's endured this Hell for twenty years."

" Dios!" A horrified Antonia gasped, her hand going to her mouth.

All around the room, the others looked equally horrified as Len continued to recount Hartley's nightmarish tale. He told them of the constant abuse and disregard with which Jesse had treated Hartley and the others, the scars on the poor man's back that were testament to that. Len told them of how Hartley revealed to them that Jesse was the one who had stolen Lord Scudder's cows for his sick machinations of resurrecting the deadly poison through the use of a long forgotten tome of forbidden arts and hiring Harkness to use it. Len also described just how Jesse had used those poor animals for his disgusting plan, how he had condemned them to an agonizingly slow death and discarded them like one would tissue paper without remorse or care that these were living creatures, and that they had belonged to someone else.

" So we don't have any evidence of what that bastard's done?" Iris asked quietly. Barry and Len found their ops curling up in half smiles despite themselves as they felt pride surge up inside them for Hartley and his fellows.

" Hartley and some of the other servants managed to give Jesse the slip on the night he ordered all of the evidence destroyed. He wanted the forbidden tome burned along with the animal carcasses, but two of the servants switched the book out with another one that looked similar and hid the real tome away somewhere in the house. As far as we can tell and hope, Jesse is completely oblivious." Barry said, while Len smirked.

Iris's face broke out into a wide grin, while Joe sagged in relief. Eddie smiled too, along with Ronnie and Caitlyn. Antonia looked ready to burst into tears, while Dante bowed his head, sagging in relief as well. Lisa looked gleeful, while Cisco looked a little stunned by it all. It was Joe who finally broke the silence.

" How did this Hartley kid escape?" He asked.

" He's a brave one Joe, I'll tell you that." Len said before he shook his head and continued.

" Hartley faked his own death yesterday, he secretly looked in the tome Jesse used to resurrect the poison and found a recipe for something that simulates death by slowing down the body's functions."

" Simulates death?" Joe asked incredulously. Barry nodded.

" Yeah dad, Hartley described the plants he used and Harrison recognized it as a concoction that could only be found in the forbidden tome the poison came from. The concoction is called Death's Breath and it slows down breathing and heartbeat to the point where you'd thinks it all stopped. The effect lasts for an hour or so before it wears off and the drinker wakes up. It confirmed that Hartley knew what he was talking about, and that he was telling the truth about Jesse. He said that he drank the stuff and his friends put on a show that he had committed suicide." It was here that Barry felt his throat tighten up a little before he forced himself to continued.

" Hartley said that suicide was nothing new at Jesse's estate, that there have been many who decided that it was the only way that they could free themselves from his cruelty. Hartley even said that Jesse has an entire _field_ of his property where he's ordered these men and women be buried and forgotten, " _a field of bones"_ Hartley called it."

" Dear God." Joe swore, shaking his head. All around the room Len and Barry could see the horror and outrage on every single beloved face. With a shaky breath barry continued. Caitlyn looked ready to burst into tears, Ronnie keeping an arm around his wife, his eyes wide in disbelief at what had been revealed.

" Hartley told us that two of his friends were ordered to take him out to the field to bury him and that he woke up on the way there. He said that they helped him by giving him some clothes to change into and some food in a sack. After that he took off on foot through a path in the woods that led to one of the main roads into the city. He walked most of the night until he finally reached the palace gates where he caused a commotion and finally collapsed in front of Mark when he came out to investigate. As you know, Hartley had nearly frozen to death at that point and also blistered his feet up real bad. The rest of the night Harrison spent making sure he pulled through."

Silence reigned over the entire living room once more, no one moving, no one able to articulate anything. What could they say in the face of such a painful and harrowing tale? It was Eddie who regained his voice first and spoke.

" How is Hartley doing now? Will he live?" He asked quietly, wrapping an arm around Iris who looked on in concern. Barry and Len both smiled as Barry spoke.

" He's doing well, Harrison will keep us updated on his condition, but he seems past the worst of the exposure and with a few square meals he'll be back on his feet for sure."

There were relieved smiles and tears all around, but conversation quickly shifted as Joe demanded to know everything about Lord James Jesse. Since Len knew the most information about the newly revealed traitor to the crown, he began to recount all he knew about Jesse.

The man was around what Lewis would have been age wise now, and had been a member of court during the tail end of King Richard Snart's reign, and a sort of unofficial advisor and confidant to Lewis through his nightmarish time on the throne. He was one of Lewis' staunchest supporters, and if Len thought about it now, Jesse was a good companion to his father as well, if his newly revealed malice and cruelty was anything to go on.

" After I assumed the throne I started repealing just about every law Lewis ever dictated, not just as a final insult to the old asshole, but also because they were all so cruel and against human decency." Len said as he sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands under his chin, his blue-gray eyes hardened and ice-like as he remembered the tumultuousness of his first years on the throne as King of Nevar.

" I remember, once he realized that his protests to how I was going to run this kingdom fell on deaf ears, Jesse tried to make nice, weasel his way into my good graces, keep his unofficial position. I was having none of it. I did my best to be subtle about it, but I made sure all of Jesse's political aspirations were nipped in the bud. I allowed him to remain in court since he came from one of Nevar's oldest families, and as far as I knew, he'd become nothing but a washed up gossip." It was here that Len shook his head, his disgust now directed inward towards himself.

" _Shows how much I really know_." He muttered before he was suddenly rising to his feet.

" Please excuse me a moment." Len said, not pausing for any replies as he quickly moved towards the exit.

" Ronnie you stay here." He added without looking back, instantly halting Ronnie who had stepped forward to dutifully follow his king.

" Len wait!" Barry called, rising to his feet as well, the others in the room voicing their own protests at Len's flight, but Barry's husband was out the door and gone in a matter of seconds.

" Let him go Barr, give him his space." Joe said sadly, eying the doors his son-in-law had all but fled through, feeling his heart twist.

King to King, Joe had a sense of what Len was going through, the betrayal of the crown by a subject was an unfortunate aspect of monarchy. Joe himself had had a few of these in his own time on the throne of Central Kingdom, along with seeing first hand Eobard's heinous betrayal of Henry, Nora, and Barry. It didn't take much for Joe to understand that Len was beating himself up over not seeing what this Jesse character was capable of, and what the old snake had done, what Jesse had almost gotten away with.

Barry sank back down onto the sofa, looking completely drained as he spoke.

" Jesse didn't attend the Ball, I remember, Lord Dillon said that he wasn't feeling well and decided not to come." Barry said with a humorless smirk as he shook his head.

" I should have known, the Winter Solstice Ball is one of the biggest social events of Nevar, and Jesse with his inflated ego, is one of those types who always wants to be where the action is, put his two-cents in even when no one asked for anything."

" Fucking bastard." Barry hissed under his breath as he leaned back against the sofa, covering his eyes with a trembling hand, his jaw clenched in silent rage. Iris and Eddie immediately getting up and making their way over to him.

" Turns out he's a murderous traidor on top of that." Dante growled, his dark eyes blazing.

" Are you okay." Cisco asked softly as he held Lisa's hand in-between his own.

Lisa was pale, but her eyes were silently blazing as she met Cisco's gaze and squeezed his hand back. Lisa shook her head.

" No, I am not okay, but at least we know the truth now." She said quietly. She then turned her gaze to Barry and looked like she wanted to say something, no doubt reveal how James Jesse's hurtful gossiping alone had nearly torn Barry and Len apart when they were around six months married, all the drama and near disaster Jesse's cruel words about Mick and Barry had caused them.

After that, conversation turned to the one brave soul who had made the revelation about Jesse possible, Hartley Rathaway. For a good twenty minutes, Barry answered the many questions about Hartley that were asked of him, being sure to keep out certain details that were not his to reveal. Joe wanted to me the young man personally and Barry assured his father that he would consult with Harrison once Hartley was back on his feet. It had been nerve-wracking enough for Hartley to face the King and Prince Consort of Nevar, now there would be plenty more royals who wanted to meet him. The young man had been overwhelmed enough as it was, both mentally and physically. All Barry wanted was for Hartley to recover peacefully.

Barry then quietly excused himself from his family, sharing a few quick kisses on the cheek with Lisa, Iris, Caitlyn and Antonia and clasping hands with Eddie, Ronnie, Cisco and Joe before he ducked out into the hall. Barry strode down the hall with purpose till he reached the nearest flight of stairs and headed up several floors with his and Len's apartments being his intended destination.

When Barry caught sight of the doors to the royal apartments, his stomach did a little flip-flop when he saw that they were slightly ajar and also spotted some movement happening behind them. As he reached them the two guards who stood posted on either side of them bowed to him as one.

" Your Highness." They said in unison. Barry could see that despite their stoicism, both guards had a look in their eyes that the Prince Consort of Nevar could only describe as quiet relief.

Barry nodded to the two guards before he stepped into his and Len's living room area. Once he was inside Barry closed the doors behind him, and the scene that greeted him had Barry's heart lurching. The living room area was a mess, as if a hurricane had passed through it. The large round table that stood near the center of the room had been upended, one of its legs having actually broken from the force with which it was flung. A couple of the sofas by the fire place were also in disarray, one of them upturned while others appeared to have been kicked out of place.

Barry knew what this was, the aftermath of the rage Len had unleashed in the privacy of the apartments.

When the servants became aware of his presence, they all stopped what they were doing to stand and then bow or curtsy to him with a chorus of soft greetings of " Your Highness".

Barry nodded in acknowledgement before his eyes went to the doors to the bedroom, which were shut. These doors being shut were not out of the ordinary, but from the nervous ways some of the servants were eying them, Barry surmised that Len had barricaded himself inside once he had finished redecorating the living room area. Standing up straighter, Barry spoke.

" Leave us." He said firmly.

In an instant the servants all bowed or curtsied before they took their leave, wordlessly filing out of the royal apartments through the servants doors they had come in through once they were sure the coast was clear and they would not face an enraged King Leonard Snart.

Once he was standing alone in the living room area, Barry took a deep breath and made his way further into the room. It was he who would be facing an enraged Leonard Snart, not the poor servants.

Barry slowly walked past the broken table, taking a closer look at the wood. He would have the carpenters fix it. There was no use in delaying the inevitable, so Barry turned away from the disarray the living room area was in and made his way over to the doors to his and Len's bedrooms. When he tried the knob, he was a little surprised to see that the doors were unlocked but quickly focused on the task at hand as he pulled one of the doors open and entered his and Len's bedroom. A part of Barry was expecting the bedroom to be just as trashed as the living room was, but most of him didn't really give a damn if it was.

Instead the bedroom was untouched and whole, nothing destroyed or tossed every which way, but Barry wasn't paying attention to any of that as he green eyes zeroed in on the bedroom's only other occupant who was sitting silently at the foot of the bed. Barry wordlessly made his way further into the room, going slowly but not hesitantly. As he neared his husband, Barry eyed the way Len was sitting, with his head bowed and his hands clenched tightly into fists in his lap, and a light flush of anger still staining his otherwise paled features. Len's steely blue eyes were like two chips of ice, gazing down at the floor unseeing, the king lost in the pandemonium of his thoughts. Once Barry was standing before his husband, a beat of heavy silence passed between them that seemed to span a life age.

Barry then parted his lips to speak, but Len suddenly spoke, cutting him off.

" I don't think it would be wise for you to be in my company right now husband." Len said flatly without looking up.

Barry found the corners of his lips turning up into a sad, brittle little smile as he reached out and placed his hand over the back of Len's head and leaned down to place a kiss to the soft, shaven crown before he sighed and sank down onto the bed beside his husband.

" I am not so wise then." Barry said simply as he reached down and pulled off his boots, wordlessly tapping Len on the knee and gesturing for his husband to do the same.

Len finally looked up to quirk his brow at Barry, who just titled his head and sent Len a look. Len then wordlessly obeyed, pulling off his own boots and lightly flexing his sock-covered toes. They continued to sit together in silence, Len still too angry to speak and Barry doing his best to tread carefully. Minutes passed by in this impasse, this charged silence until Barry finally moved. He wordless scooted backwards so that he was fully on the bed before he reached up and pulled the chain off of his shoulders and lightly tossed it over the side of the bed. It hit the carpeted floor with a muffle chime of metal before Barry shifted up right behind Len, pressing himself up against his husband's tense back.

Len stiffened at the contact, but did not pull away, keeping his eyes staring down at the floor. Silently though, he absolutely loved the feel of Barry slowly surrounding him as Barry reached for the chain of state that was draped around Len's shoulders and gently pulled it away, letting it drop to the floor to join his own discarded chain. Len stayed silent as he let Barry pull him back a little so that they were pressed together even closer. Len straightened his back and leaned against Barry, feeling the faint beat of his husband's heart against the center of his back. Barry smiled softly as he reached around and sought out the buttons of Len's jacket. Len let his head fall back against Barry's shoulder as his husband undid the first few buttons of his jacket, loosening up his collar and providing some relief from the tension. Barry leaned in and pressed his lips behind Len's ear, the result instantaneous as Len lost some more tension and relaxed against him further. Len let his eyes fall shut and just breathed, taking in Barry's intoxicating scent and feeling the muscles of his back uncoil a little.

Barry snaked a hand into Len's open jacket, so that his palm came to rest over the center of his husband's chest. Len let out a small groan, for Barry's hand was cool and soothing against his anger flushed skin. Letting out a shaky breath, Len finally spoke.

" I want to rip him apart Barry, I want to rend him limb from limb." He said, his voice deathly quiet, a mark of how serious he was.

Barry knew exactly who Len was talking about. With a sigh, Barry tightened his hold around Len and shook his head as he spoke.

" I know Husband, but I don't want you to dirty your hands like that." He said quietly, before his eyes and his voice hardened.

" Jesse is filth, and I think death would be too good for him." Len hummed in agreement as he reached up and covered Barry's hands with his own, intertwining their fingers.

Barry pressed a kiss to Len's temple, his lips lingering there as he spoke.

" We'll get them Husband, Jesse and Harkness. We will make them pay dearly, but right now there's something else I want to do." Barry said, his voice taking on a husky quality that always served to make Len shudder.

Barry then trailed his other hand down Len's front until he reached one of the most intimate parts of his husband. Len's sharp gasp followed by a breathy groan filled the still air of the bedroom as Len's whole body grew taught at Barry's sensual touch.

" B-Barry." Len breathed.

" I want you now Leonard Snart, so I'm taking you." Barry all but growled before he reached up with the hand he had over Len's heart and seized his husband's jaw, firmly turning the other man's head so that he could seal his mouth over Len's in a deep kiss.

With a low rumble of his own, Len kissed Barry back, twisting his body around and wrapping his arms around Barry's shoulders. Barry's hands immediately sought out the rest of the buttons on Len's jacket. As he reached the last buttons, Barry drew away from Len's lips, but only so that he could basically attack his husband's neck.

" Oh God!" Len groaned as he felt Barry's teeth sink into his flesh, while the younger man's hands were peeling Len's jacket off of him.

The jacket was soon joining the chains on the floor as Barry's hands began to roam over the expanse of Len's back, rubbing at still tense muscles and grazing over the old, faded scars. It all made something hot and needy unfurl inside Len as he groaned and gasped in pleasure. With a low growl Barry was pulled Len sideways and twisting them so that Len fell onto the bed on his back with Barry looming over him. Barry drew back, kneeling between Len's legs, gazing down at his husband hungrily with his hazel green eyes almost black with want. Len felt his mouth go dry at the way Barry was looking at him, with so much love behind that deep desire.

Len reached up, seeking out the buttons of Barry's jacket when Barry gently seized his wrists and pressed them back into the mattress.

" Uh-uh." Barry said simply, chuckling softly when Len looked adorably disappointed.

" Mean." Len said, all but pouting.

" I'll make it up to you." Barry said before he sat back onto his knees and started undoing the buttons of his own jacket.

Len licked his suddenly dry lips as he watched more and more of Barry's chest become exposed until his husband's jacket was falling away to reveal his lithe upper body. Barry then all but dove forward, covering Len's bare upper body with his own, seeking out his husband's mouth so that he could kiss the other man breathless. Len groaned as he reached up and let his hands finally explore the smooth expanse of his husband's back. Barry groaned against Len's mouth, the both of them savoring the feeling. Shortly after that two pairs of trousers and socks were dropped onto the floor on the other side of the bed and were forgotten by their owners. Len arched into Barry, pressing their now completely nude bodies together, waves of searing hot pleasure washing over them at the intimate contact.

Len barely bit back a gasp as Barry suddenly seized his wrists and pressed them into the bed just a little ways above his head on either side. Len could not hold back his moan as Barry bit and kissed his way up his husband's neck, driving Len absolutely mad with desire.

" Barry." Len breathed, shuddering almost violently as Barry bit that spot right behind his ear again.

Barry smiled and leaned in, pressing his lips to the shell of Len's ear as he spoke softly, whispering just what he intended to do to Len and going into such explicit, raw detail it had Len's eyes almost rolling up into his head.

" Do you want me to husband?" Barry teased, grinning against Len's ear while he ground his lower body against Len's to tease his husband further.

Swallowing thickly, Len nodded before he turned his head and pressed his forehead to Barry's, the both of them close enough to feel each other's breath against their lips as Len spoke.

" Y-Yes... Please Barry." He whispered desperately.

Barry did not need any further prompting as he surged forward and smashed his mouth to Len's, plundering his husband's mouth for all its worth. Len's whole body seemed to almost sigh as he melted into the kiss and responded in kind. Barry drew away with a gasp a few long moments later before he leaned over to the bedside drawer. He pulled out a vial of the special massage oil and lubricant. With these items in hand, Barry turned back to Len and gazed down at his husband.

Len felt his breath stutter as he saw the way Barry was looking at him in that moment, like he was the center of the whole universe. Len pushed himself up onto an elbow before he reached out to Barry, cupping the younger man's cheek. Barry's smile widened, his eyes never leaving Len's as he leaned into the touch and pressed a kiss to his husband's palm. They shared this quiet moment amidst the heat of their passion before a mischievous glint filled Barry's eyes. Quick as a whip Barry captured the tip of Len's thumb between his teeth, giving it a playful nip that had Len laughing. But the laugh turned into a startled cry as Barry reached down between them and squeezed a particular part of Len's anatomy, hard.

With a groan Len fell back onto the bed, writhing as Barry's hands proceeded to drive him wild, even more so when the massage oil came in. Len reached up and ran his fingers over the sensitive scar below Barry's right pec, watching in awe as Barry threw his head back and groaned, arching above him in pure ecstasy.

The couples groans and soft cries filled the air of the bedroom as Barry gently and carefully pleasured and prepared his husband.

A few moments later Len's strangled cry and Barry's low, breathy groan sounded through the room as Barry finally joined their bodies together in the most intimate way. Barry screwed his eyes shut as he felt the tips of Len's fingers digging into his back, the sensation of it intoxicating to his senses. Barry forced his eyes open and leaned in, mouthing at Len's jawline before he drew his hips back and surged forward.

Len felt the breath leave his body as he arched up against Barry, his mouth open in a silent cry of pained pleasure. With a shuddered gasp, Len wrapped his legs around Barry's waist and canted his hips to meet each of Barry's thrusts.

" Mmm." Len groaned as Barry left a trail of molten hot kisses down Len's neck and then over his check until he reached one of the buds that graced Len's pectorals.

" Oh God!" Len cried as Barry worried the bud lightly with his teeth.

Barry grinned savagely as he drew his hips back and then surged forward, going deeper, seeking out that special spot. Len threw his head back as he cried out in unashamed pleasure, his hole body going taught as Barry found that spot and proceeded to pound into it again and again. Len completely lost himself to Barry as his husband made love to him, stroking his hands over Barry's back and through his chocolate brown hair, meeting him thrust for thrust. As time went on the cries and groans grew louder and more frantic, the heat between Len and Barry rising until it finally reached a peak.

" BARRY!" Len screamed against his husband's shoulder as his whole body finally when rigid in release.

Len's body arching into him and tightening around him was enough to push Barry over the edge a few moments later as with a final surge forward he too toppled over into bliss.

" LEN!" Barry cried, his voice strangled as his own back arched magnificently above Len.

As the waves of pleasure washed over them, Barry and Len collapsed together onto the bed in a boneless heap. Barry lay with his hand pillowed against the center of Len's chest, feeling his husband's pounding heart beneath his ear.

" Oh my God." Len whispered as he ran his hand up Barry's back and shoulder to cup the back of his neck, Barry groaning softly in approval.

They stayed that way for a long while, until the blissfulness faded and the need to get clean was too much to ignore. Lethargically, Barry got up and sat over the edge of the bed nearest the bedside drawer, reaching down towards the lower, open part were a stack of clean towels was kept. He grabbed a couple and turned back to Len, going about cleaning his husband first despite Len's groggy protests. Once he had cleaned himself as well with a separate towel, Barry got up from the bed so hat he could dispose of the soiled towels in a nearby hamper. Len cheekily whistled as he followed Barry's movements, appreciating the view the younger man was providing him. Barry sent Len an amused grin over his shoulder before he tossed the towels into the hamper and hurried back to Len.

Len chuckled as he found himself immediately cocooned in the bedsheets and a pair of warm arms and Barry held him close. They lay on their sides facing each other, soft hazel green eyes meeting those of steely blue. For the longest time they simply laid there in a comfortable silence. It was Barry who finally broke the silence.

" We know the truth now Len, about Jesse and what he's been doing. We'll get him and Harkness." He said with quiet determination.

" The question is how." Len said with a sigh as he pulled Barry closer.

" We'll think of something." Barry said before he closed the sparse distance between them and sealed his mouth over Len's. Len groaned softly and surrendered himself to his husband's ministrations until he drifted off into a light doze.

Once he was sure that Len was asleep, Barry carefully got out of bed and grabbed his sleeping rob, donning it before he quietly headed out of the bedroom into the living room. Once he made it past the destruction, Barry quietly summoned the servants.

" I would like everything cleared up, but please do your best to do so quietly, I do not want his majesty disturbed." Barry said, the servants bowing to him in respect before he quietly ducked back inside the bedroom and rejoined Len in bed. As he pressed his front up against Len's back, Barry sighed at both the warmth and the feel of this powerful muscles against his own flesh.

Barry sighed as he lightly ran his fingertip over one of the scars that graced his husband's back, tracing the faded white line and remembering the state of Hartley's back as well. It truly did not matter if one were born to become a king or to become a sadistic lord's servant, cruelty could find you regardless. While Len had dozed off, Barry found that sleep eluded him. A look at the clock told Barry that they still had a good three hours before lunch time, so he did his best to relax further beside his husband.

As he felt Len breathing steadily against him, Barry's mind inevitably began to play over the events that had led to the precarious situation they were all now in. The so called harmless gossipy old man turned out to be a dangerous snake and threat to the safety of Barry and Len's family. They would have still been going about trying to find all possible leads were it not for the courage of Hartley Rathaway and his fellow servants, who had all been through some kind of Hell at the hands of Lord James Jesse.

As he lay there, Barry began to contemplate what to do next. What could they do? Where would they even start?

After a good ten minutes of hard thinking, Barry shook his head and banished his troubled thoughts to the back of his mind. There would be plenty of time later in the day to discuss a viable course of action. Pressing a kiss to the back of Len's neck, Barry wrapped an arm around his husband's waist and held him close as he too drifted off into a light doze.

 _A couple of hours later in the King's private study after lunch..._

" I wish I could just go and arrest that smarmy old bastard right this second." Mark said from where he stood by Len's desk with his arms crossed.

All around the room there were various murmurs and looks of agreement, but Len shook his head.

" I would like nothing more as well, but you'd only be taking care of one problem. We'd still have Harkness to deal with, and based on what both Hartley and Joe have described, this son of a bitch is a slippery one. He'd probably find a way to escape and then we'd be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives." The King of Nevar said grimly from where he was leaning against the front of his desk with Barry beside him.

" Besides that, we have to make sure nothing tips this bastard off. He already went to such lengths to destroy the evidence, there's no telling what he'll do to the servants. Those poor souls are all eyewitnesses to everything he's done, just like Hartley." Joe said with a sigh.

" How do we save them?" Eddie asked quietly, Iris nodding and squeezing his hand where they sat together.

" Hartley had to go to extreme measures to make his escape. They all had the gumption to hide the tome and help Hartley, but we can't underestimate Jesse, not after we've found out what a conniver he really is." Harrison said grimly.

" How can separate him from the servants so that he can't hurt them?" Cisco asked from where he sat between his mother and Lisa.

" And let's not forget Harkness, he still wants me dead." Barry said with muted anger.

Len barely kept himself from going berserk at this, but he kept a cool head and instead felt pride in his husband for showing no fear, only determination to end this nightmare.

They continued to talk facts until Barry was suddenly struck by a though.

" Guys, what if the best way to take these two out is to give them what they want?" He asked.

" What do you mean son?" Joe asked, his brow knitting in confusion while Len frown, already not liking where this was going.

Taking a deep breath, Barry explained.

" I am the one they're both after-" He began to say and in an instant Len was cutting him off.

" Husband, you better not be suggesting what I think you're suggesting." Len said flatly, a warning frown marring his brow.

Barry met Len's gaze head on and gave a helpless shrug.

" Just hear me out my King." He replied.

" New brother, are you suggesting that you want to play bait for these assholes?" Lisa asked incredulously.

Barry did his best not to squirm under the many unhappy eyes now trained on him, but he held his ground and he spoke.

" I'm just saying that we should keep up the act that we aren't on to anything and make Jesse and Harkness come to us somehow. Me being the bait just seems like the best option, it's me they've both targeted." Barry explained, hoping to placate the panic.

Joe snorted and shook his head, sending Barry one of his patented dad looks, while Len looked no better, like he had just chewed on a lemon whole. It was Harrison who stepped forward and spoke.

" His Highness does raise a valid point, he is the intended target, but I am in agreement with your father and your husband, I will not allow you to put yourself at such risk my Prince." Harrison said sternly as Joe smiled and Len sent his chief advisor a warm look. It was then that Mark was struck by an idea.

" What if we used someone who shares a striking resemblance to you, enough to fool the bastards?" He asked.

" Like a decoy?" Joe asked, perking up as the wheel in his own mind began to turn. Mark nodded, smiling as several appreciative looks were sent his way.

" You know Mark, that just might work, and Barry will be safe, which is what matters above everything else." Len said with a nod, Barry feeling himself go warm all over at his husband's words.

" But where would we use such a decoy?" Antonia asked, her question giving everyone else pause. In the ensuing silence of thoughtful process, Cisco and Lisa happened to catch each other's eye. In the span of mere seconds, they both were thinking the same thing.

" Us!" They both said in perfect sync with rule grins, everyone turning to eye them curiously.

" What?" Len asked as he eyed his sister and her fiancé.

" The Winter Solstice Ball was also supposed to be a celebration of me and Cisco's engagement. Since that didn't happened, wouldn't it make sense if we threw another party?" Lisa asked. Then Cisco spoke as well.

" More so since I survived the attack on Barry. While everyone else would see this as a celebration, I am sure Jesse and Harkness wouldn't pass up the chance to get at Barry." He said grimly.

Barry and Len were stunned, both at Lisa and Cisco's selflessness but also by just how viable the idea seemed.

" Yeah, yeah, we could throw the party and switch his Highness out with a decoy with Jesse and Harkness none the wiser." Mark said with a determined smile on his face.

Len made his way over to Lisa and Cisco, who both stood up from their seats to meet him. Len reached out and cupped the side of Lisa's neck with one hand, while he gripped Cisco's shoulder with the other as he spoke.

" But guys, it's your engagement. It's supposed to be about the both of you, not to stop a conspiracy." He said quietly.

Lisa just shook her head, reaching up and covering her brother's hand with her own as she and Cisco shared a look of understanding before she spoke.

" No Big Brother, this is about protecting our family. If we find a convincing enough decoy and this all works, me and Cisco will be able to finally celebrate our engagement, and we'll finally get Jesse and Harkness. I can't think of any other engagement present I'd like than to see those two assholes caught and finished." Lisa said, Cisco nodding in full agreement.

Len found himself smiling tenderly as Barry came up beside him. Barry's eyes were a bit over bright and his smile slightly lopsided, the the gratitude that was radiating off of him in waves could not be denied.

All around the room, everyone else had similar looks of love and respect on their faces. Antonia was already dabbing at her eyes, looking deeply proud as only a mother could while Dante smiled and looked determined beside her.

Len pulled Lisa to him first, kissing her forehead and hugging her soundly while Barry all but tackled Cisco. They then switched of course, Len hugging Cisco who blushed furiously, while Lisa squeezed Barry tightly, eliciting a full laugh from her brother in all. Pretty soon the rest of the family, including Mark and Harrison joined in to congratulate Lisa and Cisco on their engagement, but also for their cleaver plan to trap Jesse and Harkness.

Conversation soon turned to the finer details as the plan began to take shape.

" Where are we going to find a decoy for Barry?" Iris asked, to which Joe smiled, a calculating look on his face as he spoke.

" I may or may not know someone back in Central Kingdom who can help us with that." He said cryptically, Len sending him a full grin when the two king's eyes met.

" Harkness likes to blend in, what happened to William Hornsby is proof of that." Mark said grimly.

" He probably wouldn't risk using the same ploy twice, my bet is he'll change things up, get close under a different guise." Eddie added, everyone nodding in agreement.

As he glanced around Len's private study, Barry could not help but feel both warm but also fiery determination. They would plan one hell of a trap under the guise of an engagement party, they would plan it down to as close as the very last detail as possible, for the chance of things going wrong could never fully be over come. They would be ready, no matter how many weeks or even months it would take, that was for damn sure.

 _One week later..._

" Y-You're telling me that I get to st-stay here your Majesties?" Hartley asked in sheer disbelief.

The young man, looking ten times better in health than he had been when he had first arrived at the palace was currently standing in the living room area of one of the palace's smaller guest quarters. Over the past few days, Hartley had been allowed to recover in the safety and privacy of the privet ward with Harrison making sure the young man ate three square meals a day. The sickness of the cold exposure had been chased away, and the last welts Hartley would ever receive at the hands of James Jesse were almost fully healed. In addition, the painful blisters Hartley had received from having walked all the way to the palace had healed enough for him to start walking around again, though he had to wear soft slippers for the time being, as per Harrison's orders.

Len and Barry both smiled at Hartley's wonder, they, along with Cisco, Ronnie, and Harrison all feeling humbled by it. To see someone who had gone through so much Hell being astounded at having a place to stay was something that made them appreciate how lucky they had been in life. It was Len who steeped forward and spoke.

" Yes Hartley, these are your quarters now, and should you need anything you have only to ask." Len assured.

" H-How can I ever repay you, your Majesties?" Hartley asked with a shaky, grateful smile.

" The only thing you are going to do is recover fully Hartley Rathaway." Barry said with some sternness and he came to stand beside his husband with a smile.

" And besides." Harrison said as he too stepped forward with a smile.

" As my newest apprentice in the Healing arts, you'll barely have much time to sit idle."

Hartley ducked his head, smiling shyly as a light flush filled his cheeks. As he had recovered, Harrison had brought Hartley in on the plan to trap Jesse and Harkness under the guise of Princess Lisa and Marquis Cisco Ramon's official engagement party. As part of the plan to keep Hartley himself safe, a cover story had been concocted whereby Hartley would stick close to Harrison as one of the newest apprentices to join the Palace's Healing Wing. As an added measure, Hartley had been given an alias to go under for the time being, Andrew Piper.

Hartley was their key witness after all, the whistleblower, his safety had been among Len and Barry's top priorities as they continued to devise and tweak the battle plan.

Harrison himself had been the one to suggest talking the young man under his wing, recognizing Hartley's potential since the young man had utilized the information of the forbidden tome to correctly concoct the means by which he had escaped Lord Jesse's tyranny. When Hartley had been told, about both the plan and also that Harrison wanted him as a paid apprentice, the young man had nearly fallen over himself trying to express his gratitude.

" We aren't done yet Hartley." Len said, sharing a smile with Barry as Hartley's eyes grew wide.

Hartley nearly toppled over again when Len and Barry informed him that he would be getting a visit from Len and Barry's personal tailors, who would be taking his measurements for the whole new wardrobe Len had ordered be made for the young man, from everyday wear all the way to formal attire.

The royals tailors would be working in overdrive in the next coming weeks, ever since Len had summoned them for the initial consultation. Everyone in the family was assigned a veteran tailor to take measurements and consult with regarding what kind of look they wanted for the engagement party. Sure, it was to keep up appearances and hide the fact that the party was also a trap for Jesse and Harkness, but when the trap aspect was banished to the back of the mind, there was genuine excitement for everyone involved. Leonard Snart's baby sister was getting married, and Lady Antonia Ramon's youngest son was the lucky man who had won the heart of the Princess of Nevar.

" Come Hartley, let's give you the grand tour." Barry said with a smile, everyone else smiling and not saying anything as Hartley, who looked like he was choking back tears, nodded and followed after Barry.

 _A couple of days later..._

The sun was shining brightly over a snow-covered Nevar. In the palace, Len, Barry, Lisa, Cisco, Ronnie, and Caitlyn were all making their way up one of the main halls of the palace, with Joe's guest apartments being their destination.

" Any idea why Dad called us?" Len asked, to which everyone else either shook their head or answered in the negative.

As they reached the doors to Joe's quarters, they were met by Iris, Eddie, Mark, Harrison, Antonia, and Dante. They looked just as curious confused.

" Hola my darlings." Antonia greeted with a warm smile before she proceeded to give hugs and kiss cheeks, much to the embarrassment of Cisco and Dante. The others didn't mind at all, warmed by how open Antonia was with her affections.

It was Barry who stepped forward and knocked on the doors to Joe's guest quarters.

" Dad, we're here." Iris called as everyone else gathered behind Barry to wait for Joe to reply.

A few moments later, the door was opening to reveal a smiling Joe, dressed in a deep bronze colored Tudor jacket with a simple gold and ruby chain draped over his shoulders.

" Come in you guys." Joe said as he stepped aside.

As they walked over the threshold into Joe's apartments, Barry and Iris could not help but feel the hairs on the backs of the necks stand up. They couldn't really understand why but something seemed just a little bit off with Joe, something in his eyes and the way he was smiling that seemed... off somehow.

Everyone made their way into the living room area, Joe asking them to take their seats.

" Hey Dad, what did you want to see us all about?" Iris asked, still feeling a bit on edge as she gazed warmly at her father.

" I did tell you all that I had a guy coming in from Central Kingdom who's talents at mimicry are unparalleled. He just got in this morning." Joe explained. Len immediately frowned.

" Dad, why weren't Barry and I informed?" The king of Nevar asked, while Barry looked confused beside him.

" Yeah, that's standard protocol." Barry added. From where he stood on Len's opposite side, Mark felt himself go on high alert in an instant because Barry was right, that was standard protocol before anyone was allowed entrance onto the palace ground. He was to be the one informed even before the royals.

Joe was about to speak when movement from a corner that led to the bathroom had all eyes turning. When they saw who was approaching, there was a collective gasp as another King Joseph West appeared, completely identical to the one who was sitting with them.

" What the Hell?" Len exclaimed as he shot to his feet, his eyes darting from the Joe West sitting in front of him, to the one who was standing just a few feet away. The others, just as equally flabbergasted, were doing the same, their eyes going back and forth, their faces slack with shock. Then, in one fell swoop all Hell seemed to break lose as Mark stepped protectively in front of the royals and unsheathed his sword, ready to defend. Iris looked ready to attack as well, wondering just what the hell was going on with her father, while Eddie, Ronnie, Cisco, and Harrison all moved to surround the two Joe. Caitlyn stood in front of Lisa and Antonia, looking on with a determined set to her face, ready to defend as well. Everyone was talking all at once, a chaotic cacophony of voices until finally, Barry yelled out over the din.

" EVERYBODY FREEZE!"

In an instant everyone stilled and went silent.

" Thank you." Barry said before he turned his attention to the two Joe Wests.

" Alright. I'm gonna go with my gut here and say that you, are the actual Joe West." Barry said, pointing to the Joe who had stepped out from the corner.

That Joe West smiled and nodded, a hint of pride in his dark eyes while Iris and Eddie gawked at him. Barry then turned his hard gaze to the Joe West who had been sitting with them, the one that had greeted them at the door and let them in.

" So that begs the question, who the hell are you?" Barry asked, while Len stood beside him, his steely blue eyes hard and on edge.

The other Joe smiled in a way that was not anything like Joe's before clearing his throat lightly and speaking.

" You are correct my Prince." Not-Joe said, his voice no longer the deep, rich baritone they were used to. Now it was a lighter, husky tone that was jarring to hear since the impostor still wore Joe's face.

" Hannibal Bates of Central Kingdom, at your service you Majesties." Hannibal said before he gave a low bow.

As he straightened up, Bates reached for his own neck, and everyone watched on stunned as the man literally peeled his face off. A mask, and a scarily realistic one at that.

" Holy shit." Len swore, his eyes wide in disbelief. Mark sheathed his sword while Harrison pulled off his glasses, the two of them staring at Bates like he was something not of this world.

No longer was there a carbon copy of King Joseph West standing before them, instead it was a pale skinned man with a shaved head and chiseled jaw, and a mischievous glint in his dark blue eyes. They all watched stunned as the man proceeded to take off his attire, revealing that the coat identical to the one Joe was wearing had several large pockets of padding to give the man, Bates, Joe's heavier build. The last thing Bates did was pull out a hand kerchief and start to wipe at his hands, revealing that they had been pained to match Joe's exact skin tone.

Hannibal Bates basically 'took off' Joe West before their very eyes.

" I'm really sorry about tricking you guys, but I just wanted you all to see Hannibal's skills for yourself." Joe said, sending his children an apologetic look.

Iris and Barry both rushed forward, all but tackling Joe as they quietly admonished him. Joe just chuckled as he held his son and daughter. Len stepped closer to Hannibal Bates, eying the man silently and critically. Hannibal Bates did his best not to squirm under Len's cool gaze. He had heard stories about the King of Nevar, how the man could leave even the most stubborn of men cowed with just silence and a look. The seconds went by until Len blinked and the tension dissipated.

" Welcome to Nevar Hannibal Bates of Central Kingdom." Len said finally, holding out his hand.

" It is my honor your Majesty." Hannibal replied, grasping the hand.

After that, Joe went on to properly introduce the man who would be playing the risky role of Barry's double. A little while later found everyone sitting about Joe's living room area as everyone all but bombard Hannibal with questions.

" I come from a long line of service to the Crown of Central Kingdom. My great grandfather was a naval commander, my grandfather a diplomatic liaison over seas, and my father a member of the royal guard. I of course served as a soldier for a time before I discovered that I much preferred the the Crowns more covert defense force." Hannibal said with a wink.

Mark was still a bit on edge about this man entering the palace unannounced, but he found himself warming little by little as Hannibal went on to explain how he had discovered that certain properties from plants and other materials combined produced such realistic masks, and the grand old time he had had testing out masks on his unsuspecting friends and family, and the many mishaps that happened along the way, like how one of his earliest masks had started melting about an hour after application, in the middle of a busy market.

" But all jokes aside, his majesty King West has informed me of the situation." Hannibal said in all seriousness and he got up and made his way to stand before Barry and Len.

" King Leonard, Prince Bartholomew, you have my solemn vow, the task with which I have been charged, I will do with all diligence. This I swear." Hannibal said as he bowed low in respect.

Len and Barry shared a look, truly touched and appreciative of Hannibal Bates' pledge of service.

As they looked around the room at their family, seeing the steely determination and anticipation in every gaze, Len and Barry felt their own resolve strengthen.

Slowly but surely, the plan was forming for a grand celebration, and one Hell of a trap.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash characters or comic book series. It is all property of DC and whoever else has legal authority. I am not making any kind of profit from this writing; it is all for fun and freedom of expression.

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Warning: Bloody gore and violence in this chapter.

Chapter 20

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" I think my foot fell asleep." Barry grumbled from where he sat in a chair, doing his best to remain as still as he could.

Barry was currently in one of the large galleries of the palace, where Hannibal Bates had basically set up shop. Len was sitting in a chair a few feet in front of Barry with his legs crossed, enjoying a cup of fresh cocoa while Ronnie and Cisco stood by. Len snorted lightly at Barry's words, while Ronnie and Cisco both smiled.

Hannibal for his part, allowed himself a smile as well, while still focused on his work. The Decoy Specialist was currently hard at work shaping the block of clay he had set up on a thick wooden pedestal. Currently, the block of clay now looked like a basic head and shoulders, just the shape with no identifiable features. Now Hannibal was slowly adding in a mound of clay for a nose.

" Please bare with me your Highness, I will admit, this process is slow, but the end result will be well worth it." Hannibal assured.

" Besides, you've only been sitting there ten minutes." Len quipped, chuckling when Barry stuck his tongue out at him childishly before they shared a smile.

" That's good that you smiled your majesty, gives me a chance to see how you facial features move and change. I will be asking you to emote throughout this session." Hannibal said serenely.

" Whatever you need of me Mr. Bates, I'll do." Barry said before he schooled his features back into a neutral expression like Hannibal had asked of him when he had first sat down.

 _About two and a half hours later..._

Barry groaned lightly as he stretched his arms above his head, chuckling when as he lowered his arms he suddenly found them filled with a handsome husband of his who proceeded to lavish some welcomed attention on him. For the last few hours Barry had either sat still or had to make exaggerated facial expressions so that Hannibal could be accurate in his construction. By the end of it, Hannibal had a bust that roughly resembled Barry. It still needed a lot of fine tuning and detailing, but it did look like a statue version of Barry by this point.

" You did good Kid." Len said as he pressed a kiss to Barry's temple.

" Wasn't too hard, I could stare at you all day." Barry said quietly, earning a chuckle from Len before he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to his husband's in a chaste kiss. They held each other for a few moments longer before they drew apart and turned their attention to Hannibal, and the clay bust.

Hannibal Bates was indeed skilled, for the basic shape of a head, neck, and shoulders now looked like Barry, only it was not lifelike as of yet, unrefined, unpolished.

" It's a good start Hannibal." Len said as he gazed at the bust, while Barry leaned in closer so that he was face to face with his clay copy, looking over his shoulder to smile and Len before he nodded to Hannibal.

" Thank you, your Majesty, I will endeavor to have the mask ready by the end of the week." Barry smiled warmly at the master decoy.

" I can't wait to see the finished product." Cisco said as he looked from Barry, to the bust, and then back at Barry, making his own comparisons.

" I think we'd all like to see if Hannibal here can pull off another fake out, like the one he did with his Majesty King West. I couldn't tell at all." Ronnie said, sending a grin Hannibal's way, which the other man returned warmly.

" Yeah, it was almost seamless." Barry agreed, still remembering how jarring it was to see two Joe West's standing before him. Everyone mingled amongst each other, Hannibal being peppered with questions about his mask-making skills and his method of learning mannerisms. Hannibal answered in mostly vague terms, enough for those asking to understand, but keeping the valuable information such as his exact formula for making the material of his mask, and some of his more in-depth techniques of learning mannerisms to himself. The atmosphere was easy enough, but the trickle of the sands of time were always there in the background and felt even though the grand engagement party was not going to be for another month. They hadn't even sent out invitations yet, but the kingdom was already abuzz with speculation.

" Your Majesties, shall we continue?" Hannibal asked with that quiet, unassuming voice of his.

" Yup." Barry said with an exaggerated sigh, that turned into a startled laugh as Len deftly reached out and pinched him in the left side where he was dreadfully ticklish.

Everybody retook their seats, and Hannibal went back to work, now going about refining the rough shape of Barry's head and facial features. It would be a long day of sitting still for Barry, but the end result would be well worth it.

 _A couple of hours later..._

Len and Barry walked hand in hand along the hallway, with Ronnie and Cisco dutifully walking behind them. Hannibal walked along side them, holding quite conversation with the royals and their pages. The five of them were currently headed towards the lower levels of the palace, where Lisa's gold working guild was located. After A few more hours of Hannibal working hard to perfect the sculpture, everyone was definitely in need of a change of scenery. With this in mind, Hannibal had asked if he could observe Len and Barry and how they interacted with each other and their subjects. Part of what Hannibal did was also studying specific mannerisms and unique aspects of how the person he would be mimicking acted with those they were close to, and those they weren't.

Len had then suggested that they all go see Lisa and the progress that was being made of the splendid jewelry that had been commission for the grand engagement celebration. Cisco still turned bright red as he remembered how Len insisted that everyone would be getting new chains or necklaces, especially the future Bride and Groom.

Cisco himself had secretly gone to one of the most senior craftsmen that worked in the guild and commissioned a necklace which he planned to present to Lisa at the party. The man had been most pleased to be of service and had sworn that he would keep utmost confidence, and hide the necklace he was creating from Lisa with diligence.

The group of five descended down the large flight of marble stairs that led to a pair of arched, ornately gilded doors, at the center of which was a gorgeous and fierce looking lion's head hewn from gold. The doors were flanked on either side by three heavily armed guards. These six guards all bowed in respect to their King and Prince Consort before two of them broke formation and reached for the mouth of the golden lion. The five visitors watched on as the guard pulled the golden lion's jaw open and down like a hinge, hearing a metallic clank as the lion's head was now roaring at them. Then with another metallic groan, the lion's head slit down the middle as the doors parted, swing out with the two guards guiding them, revealing the gold workers guild.

Though he had visited many times, Barry still felt his heart leap in wonder at the sight that greeted them. The guild was spacious, with high ceilings, almost cavernous with everything painted in a soft, golden light. Hundreds of dedicated men and women were milling about, working on exquisite pieces of jewelry, or moving heavy machinery and supplies. The gold workers guild and the forges for weaponry took up this space beneath the palace. The main door to the forges was on the opposite side of the the underground, so that one could walk in through the gold workers guild and exit through the metal workers forges.

As Len and Barry stepped across the threshold, a loud gong sounded to announce their presence. Everyone paused in what they were doing, and then as one men bowed and women curtsied, a thundering rumble of " Your Majesties" gently buffeting them as Len and Barry were greeting by their subjects. Hannibal watched on silently, observing the way Barry's eyes took in everyone, the warmth radiating from him, the way he squeezed Len's hand, and especially the smile on his face. Hannibal could not help but also notice the admiring looks both Barry and Len were getting from the guild and forge workers. There was near total silence, that seemed almost hallowed in its respect.

" Carry on." Len declared loudly, his voice carrying through the respectful silence.

As Len and Barry led the way further into the guild, everyone went back to work. There were hundreds of eyes on Len and Barry now, and Hannibal watched on as Barry stayed completely relaxed, smiling and nodding at the many greetings he and Len received as they walked past.

They found Lisa in the gem worker's section, presiding over the skilled craftsman who was currently inlaying gorgeous oval cut sapphires and aquamarine stones into an intricate chain of state. Caitlyn was not by her side, Lisa having asked her to go and check on the progress of the royal tailors at the South Wing of the palace.

" Hey you guys." Lisa said warmly as she made her way over to them, exchanging warm greetings with her brothers, and a quick kiss with Cisco.

" Hey Sis, decided to come and see you. How goes the progress?" Len asked as Lisa led them over to the work tables.

Hannibal did his best not to get distracted by all of the finery laid out on the tables, it was a sight to behold after all. There were unfinished chains and individual gem stones all neatly color and sized coded on trays, glittering in the warm light. Hannibal turned his attention back to Barry and Len, who were currently listening and watching on as Lisa showed them the progress on some of the ornate jewelry that Len had commissioned for the engagement party.

" This one's for Joe." Lisa said as she pointed at an ornate and heavy looking chain of gold disks with the sunburst emblem of Central Kingdom at its center. A worker was carefully setting small, oval-shaped rubies and pearls into the wavy rays of the emblem and into its center. Even though the chain was about two thirds complete, it was magnificent.

" You have all outdone yourselves." Barry said warmly as the craftsmen working on the chain blushed beneath his snow white beard and said his soft thanks to the royals before ducking back to work.

Lisa then went on to show the chains for Eddie Ronnie, Harrison, Mark and also the one Len had commissioned for Hartley. It was meant to be a surprise for the young man, who in the weeks past had regained his strength and was flourishing wonderfully as an apprentice healer under Harrison's guidance. The chains the guild was making for Len and Barry, Lisa kept secret.

As the tour continued, Lisa showed them the tables where the elegant necklaces for Iris, Antonia, and Caitlyn were being constructed, Len and barry holding quiet conversation and complimenting the fine work of the craftsmen, who were a bit star struck by the handsome duo, Hannibal noted. Then Lisa was called away by Shawna over a small problem with one of the furnaces, giving Cisco the chance to duck away and check with the master craftsman he had gone to regarding the engagement necklace he had secretly commissioned. He scrambled back to Len and Barry quickly, ducking his head when Len, Barry, and Ronnie all goodnaturedly teased him for being such a sugary romantic.

When Lisa returned, the group headed further in to have a look at what was happening in the royal forges.

The royal smiths were hard at work creating new armor for the latest recruits to the army and royal guard, or repairing damage on that armor which had seen a skirmish or two. Again, the smiths paused in their work to pay their respects to their royals before they went back to their tasks. Len led the way to a smaller alcove of the forges, where stood several finished sets of armor that were vastly different from the regular armor that was worn by the royal guard and Nevarian soldiers. This armor was lighter looking, and upon closer examination, was actually thinner.

" Your Majesties." Greeted the senior smith who was working in this alcove, a man named Mason Bridge.

" Master Bridge, how's the new armor coming along?" Len asked as Barry and the others eyed the light armor with interest.

" Going well my King, we have been designing and testing this new, lighter armor for years now. The latest tests we've conducted have been promising." Bridge replied.

" Good." Len said before he and Barry stepped forward to examine the armor for themselves.

This armor was designed to be worn underneath clothing, such as royal finery. There was still a fear that poison might be used again, for that reason Len had asked for a veritable army of trained poison testers to be on duty for the party. After learning about Harkness' preference for blades, it was also decided that armor would be necessary. When Len had sent word to the forges asking if the smiths had anything that could be discreet, Master Bridge had come forward with the schematics for this new, light armor. Len had gone on to explain that he wanted his husband to be extra secure considering what had happened during the last big even and that was all the explanation Bridge had needed. The plan was that Len and Hannibal would be the ones wearing this type of armor on the night of the engagement party, since Hannibal would be masquerading as Barry to lure Harkness and Jesse into the trap and Len would be their beside him to keep up the ruse. Len was pleased beyond words that Barry not even be around should Harkness deem to strike. However, Barry had been less than pleased with that thought, huddling in a separate room while his husband and the man willing to play bait in his stead were going into a potentially deadly situation. He and Len had argued about it at length until Len had put his foot down and threatened to literally hogtie Barry himself. The argument had been heated one, but after a while it had rapidly devolved into something more primal, more passionate. It had been in the aftermath of their argument, turned love making that Len had practically begged Barry to stay away from the party until both Harkness and Jesse were neutralized.

As he and Len shared a look while they inspected the light armor, Barry remembered the look of raw desperation and open fear in Len's eyes as he had spoken. It was that look that had made Barry solemnly promise to stay out of sight like Len wanted. However, even with the promise he had made to Len, Barry was now trying to figure out a way to stay out of sight but still remain close enough to where he could see what was going on.

" Your Majesties." Bridge said, gaining the attention of Len, Barry, and their entourage before he continued. " Perhaps a demonstration on the latest model's resilience against a blade?"

They all stepped aside as Bridge stepped over to a table that had several newly finished soldier's swords resting on it. He picked one of them up and then made his way over to the armor. He came to stand at arms length and took a fighting stance, raising the sword and holding it steady. Everyone watched in silent anticipation, then Bridge let out a small breath and let the sword fly with a small grunt.

There was the sound of metal hitting metal, a loud 'clang' reverberating through the air as the sword slashed into one of the thin armors set up on the mannequins. Len, Barry, Lisa, Hannibal, Cisco, and Ronnie all watched as the sword bounced off the chest of the light armor without so much as leaving a dent in it.

" Man that is sturdy." Cisco said, all but bouncing with excitement as they all gathered around the armor to get a better look at the non-damage.

As they inspected the armor together, Len and Barry both had the same thoughts running through their minds. It was dangerous beyond words, the trap they were setting, but it was pieces like the armor and Hannibal's skills in mimicry that afforded some reassurance. What could happen on the actual night of the party was anyone's guess.

 _A few days later, at the estate of Lord James Jesse..._

The servants standing in attendance within the dining room did their best not to gawk at the food that was spread over the table or let their disgust show on their faces as they watched their master, Lord James Jesse eat with all the refinement of a pig, using his hands and making a mess as he so often liked to do just to pile on the work. Jesse sneered and even went so far as to taunt them by waving pieces of food at them, like they were dogs. The servants remained silent, knowing the consequences should they make a sound of protest. Jesse went about eating his breakfast until the sound of approaching footsteps caught his ears. The lord looked up just as Axel Walker tentatively stepped over the threshold into the dining room.

" M-My Lord?" Axel began, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

" What?" Jesse barked, eying Axel with distain. Though he'd never say it out loud, Jesse actually missed Hartley, who had been his favorite whipping boy. At least Hartley was pleasing to look at and knew how to do things without being told, unlike this ugly little toad that now stood before him.

" Forgive the interruption my lord, but there is a messenger here from the Palace, says that he has a missive which h-his majesty King Leonard wanted delivered to your hands personally." Axel explained.

Jesse instantly perked up and then turned to glare at Linda Park who was standing in a corner.

" Come here and clean my face you useless Bitch." Jesse growled.

Linda swallowed thickly and wordlessly came forward, quickly grabbing one of the silk handkerchiefs Jesse insisted be neatly folded and resting on a silver tray. She quickly unfolded the kerchief and began to wipe at Jesse's food stained lips and cheeks, being sure to add an air of delicacy for her master's "sensitive" face. In all honesty Linda wanted nothing more than to grab one of the butter knife on the table and bury it into the horrid bastard's eye, but she stayed silent and worked quickly, wanting to spare herself and others a flogging as she cleaned Jesse's face with the old man glaring at her hatefully. Once Linda had cleaned his face, another servant came forward holding a circular mirror up so that Jesse could look at himself. With a derisive snort and a scowl at his servants, Jesse headed out of his dining room, following Axel towards the front of the house where the royal messenger was waiting.

The royal messenger was a young man in his early twenties with light brown hair and brown eyes who dressed impeccably in a blue and purple uniform with the Nevarian Snowflake emblem over the right breast. He also wore a satchel with the strap across his chest.

" Lord James Jesse." The Messenger began before bowing. " I come on command of their Majesties King Leonard and Prince Bartholomew to deliver this to you personally."

The Messenger stepped forward, reaching into the satchel and pulling out an elegant, gold hued envelope. He held it out to Jesse who took it eagerly. His curiosity peaked, Jesse untied the little red ribbon that was holding the envelope shut and pulled out the deep red card that was contained inside it. The card had writing and the emblems of both Nevar and Central Kingdom embossed on it in gold. As he read the words, Jesse's eyes widened in astonishment before a small grin spread across his face.

Jesse could scarcely believe his fortune. He was now cordially invited to the engagement ceremony of the king's sister to her little boy toy. Harkness had been complaining in his secret correspondence how after the whole fuck up at the Solstice ball, stupid Snart the younger had basically tucked away his precious little husband to where there had been no opportunity to finish the job he had started. Now here Jesse was with a golden opportunity literally handed to him in a golden envelope. It would be another four weeks till the party itself, but that just meant that Harkness could use the time to sharpen his blade and plan accordingly.

" My Lord." The Messenger said, breaking Jesse out of his musings. At his look of askance the Royal Messenger continued.

" Please be advised my Lord to arrive in a timely fashion and that in the wake of the horrid events of the Winter Solstice Ball, there shall be added security and that you will have to present this card before you will be allowed entrance. In addition, should you decide to bring anyone with you as your plus one, you will have to request a similar card from the palace within a week before the event. Have you any questions?" the Messenger asked.

With the wheels turning in his mind, Jesse shook his head.

" Thank you my boy, your delivery has pleased me greatly. Do tell their majesties that I am most honored to receive this invitation." Jesse with the sweetest tone he could muster, all the while doing his best to push down the urge to cackle in glee.

" You're welcome my Lord. I shall take my leave of you." The Messenger said.

" Axel, please show the good Messenger out." Jesse said with a smile to Axel that the servant knew was only a front.

" My Lord." Axel said with a small bow before he gestured for the Messenger to follow.

As Lord Jesse looked over the card yet again to see the dates and times, he didn't pay attention as Axel held the door open for the Messenger, and the Messenger deftly handing Axel a small white envelope as he stepped across the threshold. Axel was stunned at receiving the envelope made quick work of tucking it away inside the waist band of his pants before Jesse could spot it. As he shut the door, Axel felt his heart pounding wildly inside his chest for he had a feeling that the envelope was monumentally important and had come from someone he had helped "bury" just a few weeks ago.

The Messenger himself had found it a bit odd when King Leonard himself had handed him the white envelope and told him that under no circumstances was Lord Jesse to see or be made aware of it in any way, that he was to hand it in secret to a servant named Axel or bring it straight back to the palace. The King had been so deathly serious that the Messenger had sworn on oath to do as he was told. He had been about to leave when Lord Jesse indicated that the young man who had let him in was indeed named Axel. The Messenger had done as he had been tasked, and while he was curious as to what had been all about, the Messenger quickly pushed away his curiosity, he still had a full day of delivering royal invitations to the nobility of Nevar ahead of him.

Once the Messenger had ridden away from the Jesse estate and Axel had shut the door, he and the servants all felt their blood curdle as Jesse threw his head back and finally cackled to his heart's content.

" I gotta tell Boomerang about this." Jesse giggled, referring to Harkness by the weapons the demonic assassin loved so much.

Jesse shuffled off to his study to go write the note, but not before barking at the servants to clear the table and give what was left, which was a great deal in all honesty, to the pigs outside, that they the actual human beings weren't allowed even the scraps today.

Axel for his part could care less as he helped clear everything away, he just wanted a moment alone so that he could see what was inside the envelope. Axel had to go through a full hour of doing chores and getting wine for Jesse before he finally got his chance.

Axel was upstairs in the library doing some dusting, and he was blessedly alone. Ducking behind some shelves, Axel quickly pulled out the envelope and opened it, pulling out the letter inside. As his eyes glided over what was written, Axel was thankful beyond words that Hartley had spent years teaching him and many of the others how to read in secret. The fact that Jesse that they were all illiterate orphans was one of the reasons why he had been so lax regarding the tome of forbidden arts, thinking that they didn't even know what the pictures meant let alone read anything from it. Axel felt his knees go week with sheer relief as he read the letter. It was a note really, with only a few words, but for Axel, and by proxy the other servants, it meant everything. The letter read simply.

 ** _I made it, they know the truth. There is a plan, Jesse and Harkness are going down. You all just keep quiet and hold on for a little bit longer.- Hart_**

Axel took a moment to allow a few happy, happy tears to escape him before he quickly pulled himself together. Axel quickly crumpled up the envelope and letter from Hartley and shoved them into his pocket. After dusting and organizing some more, Axel made his way to the kitchens with an air of normalcy, asking if the servants in charge of cooking needed anything. When one of them asked him to stir the chowder Jesse had ordered for lunch later in the day, Axel nodded and set about the task, Resisting the urge to full on spit in the good lord Jesse's food, Axel made sure the chowder wasn't burning and deftly pulled the pot away from the stove fire so that he could toss the papers into the flames, getting rid of the evidence that Hartley Rathaway was very much alive, and that there was indeed a trap being laid for Jesse and Harkness.

For the rest of the day, Axel did his chores and got yelled at by Jesse along with the other servants, but inwardly he was screaming with pure joy. The nightmare would end soon, they just had to be patient.

 _Later, in the dead of night at the Jesse Estate..._

" Well, I'd say the son of the late great King Henry Allen is either very brave, or stupider than I originally thought." Harkness drawled as he looked over the fancy party invitation.

Jesse giggled as he sat back in his chair at his desk, taking a sip from the glass of expensive honeyed wine he had demanded. Jesse had sent for Harkness via the carrier pigeons he kept in the attic area. The assassin had been holed up in a run down, abandoned cottage that stood at the far outskirts of the kingdom. Before that wanted posters had gone up and the kingdom had been scoured by the royal guard, the assassin had been laying low around the city, sneaking in and squatting in the unused rooms of inns and stealing food discreetly from the markets or hunting in the woods, using all of the survival skills he had picked up along the way to becoming the deadly assassin he was now. The heat had side down some, and Harkness was always using the shadows to his advantage, materializing at the door to Jesse's house around midnight.

" So should I count you in as my plus one?" Jesse grinned with a mad glint in his blue eyes. Harkness looked up from the invitation and spoke.

" Tempting as that may be, I will have to decline your generous offer." He said.

" What? Why?" Jesse asked, to which Harkness gave a little put upon sigh as spoke as he set the card back down on Jesse's desk.

" While it would be easy for me to just slip in as your plus one, don't you think people, especially nobles who love to talk, would find it odd that you my good lord, who has no wife and always shows up to big events such as these all by yourself suddenly shows up at the engagement party of the King's sister with an unknown man. It would be even more difficult considering my face had been plastered all over the kingdom." Harkness explained.

Jesse deflated a nodded in understanding and agreement before he looked back up at Harkness.

" So I'll go by myself, but how are you going to get in?" He asked. To this, Jesse watched as a calculating and truly terrifying smirk spread across Harkness' face.

" Oh don't worry, I'll find a way in, even with there so called "tighter security"."

A few moments later, Harkness' deep chuckle mingled with Jesse's harsh cackle. From where he stood stationed by the door to Jesse's study, Axel kept his face neutral but smiled inwardly, for he had put two and two together and figured out the party was the trap, and that Jesse and Harkness were both walking right into it. Now he prayed that whatever plan the Royals had come up with would work.

 _Four weeks later..._

The night sky over Nevar was clear, the stars twinning brightly while the moon, full and gleaming, smiled over the winter kingdom. The Palace of Nevar glittered in the moonlight, the flags raised and the fires lit. From the main gates of the palace there was already a line of stately horse drawn carriages stretching down the path all the way into the city area of Nevar. Tonight was the night of Princess Lisa Snart's engagement to Marquis Cisco Ramon, and everyone who was anyone in Nevar had been invited.

Within his changing suite King Leonard Snart stood somber yet regal as Ronnie draped the heavy, ornate new chain over his shoulders. The King of Nevar was resplendent in a deep, sapphire blue Tudor jacket with a light silver snowflake filigree pattern over the sleeves. Over this is wore a matching over jacket of the same hue and with the same silver snowflake filigree overlay. Over the shoulders and along the hem the coat was lined with exquisite pure white fur. The chain that Ronnie had just lowered onto the kings shoulders was a true work of art. It was hewn from glittering white platinum and inlaid into each hexagon shaped panel was a glittering hexagon cut sapphire, with pearls and white diamonds inlaid around them. At the center hung a large Nevarian snowflake that seemed almost encrusted in white diamonds. And finally, resting atop Len's head was his grandfather's favorite crown. It was not as ornate as say, Len's wedding crown, but it was still a gorgeous heirloom. It was hewn from lines of silver that seemed woven together to form intricate snowflakes with glittering white gems inlaid throughout. Black trousers, knee length boots, and his grandfather's sword with the lion-headed pommel finished off the look.

Len looked every bit the king he was, but there was a tension radiating off of him, and it was understandable, for beneath all of the regal attire, he was wearing light, blade-proof armor. Tonight was what most believed to be an engagement party, while the King and his inner circle knew better. As the king gave himself a final look over in the standing mirror, Len took comfort in knowing that at least the person who was meant to be in the most danger tonight was actually going to be tucked away safely from his would be assassin.

If said assassin even showed up at all tonight.

Len quickly banished the many 'what ifs' from his mind and instead nodded to Ronnie, who stood tall and handsome in a blue-gray tudor jacket with black trousers and knee length black boots, and a silver and aquamarine jewels draped over his shoulder with the Raymond family crest hanging at the center. The king then wordlessly headed out of his changing suite and out into the living room area of the royal apartments.

As he stood there waiting for the door to the other changing suit to open, Len felt his heart begin to beat faster, but it was not with the excitement he usually felt whenever he anticipated Barry coming out of his suite. Len did not have to wait long as he heard the door to Barry's suite open. Len turned and felt his heart stop a little at the sight that greeted him.

There coming towards him was Barry, with his signature rugged hair and hazel green eyes, dressed regally in a bright purple Tudor jacket with gold piping along the sleeves and a high collar. Matching trousers and knee length black boots on his feet. Draped over his shoulders was was an ornate chain of gold, amethyst stones, and pearls, with the combined emblem of Nevar and Central Kingdom hanging at its center in intricately woven gold and glittering garnets. Atop his head was an elegant coronet of gold with white square gems around the circumference and pearls at each point. Barry looked amazing, but Len did not feel the pure joy he normally would have felt.

The reason being that the Barry dressed in full royal regalia was not in fact his Barry, if the person standing behind the decked out Barry, dressed in a simple dark blue Tudor jacket with no jewels or a crown in his head was anything to go on.

" Hannibal." Len said as he turned his steely blue eyes to the Barry decked in finery.

" Your majesty." Hannibal replied in his regular, softer voice that was so very different from Barry's as the mimicker bowed fully to the King of Nevar. He was the fake Barry, right down the jewelry he was wearing, which was made from counterfeit material at Hannibal's insistence to ensure some ease of movement considering he was wearing armor underneath his outfit. Said armor had also held him achieve the overall body shape to match Barry's and had enough room for him to put in some extra padding just in case.

It was all so truly surreal and yet, this was the night, this was really happening. To those who did not know better they would have thought that Prince Bartholomew's long lost twin brother had suddenly shown up and was standing there behind him. Hannibal had one of the swords Barry had received as a wedding present handing from a bejeweled belt around his waist, and on his left hand he wore exact replicas of Barry's glittering wedding band on his ring finger, and his mother's ruby engagement ring on his right pinky, both of which Lisa herself had crafted in secret at the guild so as to maintain total confidentiality.

" Man this is so weird." The real Barry said, Cisco noticeably absent. Tonight was the young man's engagement party after all, the Marquis was off duty as Barry's Page and instead was off getting ready with his mother and older brother.

" No kidding." Len agreed as he stepped forward, holding his hands out to his husband.

Barry quickly stepped past Hannibal and all but lunged for his husband, the two of them sharing a deep kiss and holding each other almost painfully tight before they drew apart.

" It's going to be alright Barry, you just have to stay out of sight until we have Jesse and Harkness trapped." Len said reassuringly. Barry frowned unhappily but nodded before he leaned in and pressing his forward to Len, being mindful of the crown as he spoke.

" If anything happens to you or our family I swear I will either join you in the worst or tear everything apart with my bare hands. All of you are living through this night, you hear me?" Barry gritted out.

" I hear you, we'll get those two bastards tonight, one way or another. " Len promised solemnly. Barry nodded before he spoke.

" At least I can keep Hartley company, that poor guy's been a wreck ever since the messenger we sent to Jesse's estate reported that Axel got his message." Len nodded as he reached up and cupped the side of Barry's neck.

" After tonight he'll never have to fear Jesse or Harkness ever again, and the moment we know Jesse's here in attendance, Mark will know to send his men to Jesse's estate to free the rest of Hartley's family." He said, smiling as the stress temporarily left Barry's face so that he smiled and leaned in to press another deep kiss to Len's lips. When they drew away, Ronnie stepped forward.

" Forgive me your majesties, but we really should get going." He said quietly, his eyes going to Hannibal who was standing there in respectful silence, looking exactly like a perfect replica of Barry.

Len and Barry reluctantly parted and stepped forward so Len could properly greet his husband's decoy.

" Sir Hannibal Bates, you are voluntarily putting you own life on the line to help me catch the conspirators against my husband's life and the crown of Nevar. You have my eternal thanks." Len said somberly as he held out his hand to Hannibal.

Hannibal nodded, and lightly cleared his throat before he reached out and spoke.

" My duty is to aid in the protection of the royal family of Central Kingdom, and by extension those they care for. You have my solemn vow, on this night I will do my part to ensure both your safety, and the capture of Digger Harkness, King of Nevar."

Hannibal then bowed deeply in respect to both Len and Barry. Barry felt his eyes burn a little, deeply moved by Hannibal's oath and bravery. Len felt his own throat tighten but quickly swallowed it back as he spoke with all seriousness.

" May you be blessed with long life and good fortune forever Sir Hannibal Bates." He said firmly before he held out his hand to the man who was risking his very life on this night.

Hannibal smiled wearing Barry's face, and they could all see the difference of it even with the strikingly realistic mask the man was wearing. Hannibal reached and held the offered hand, the king and the decoy shaking hands firmly.

A few moments later, Len and Hannibal disguised as Barry were standing side by side before the doors to the royal apartments with Ronnie standing behind them. Barry stood on Len's other side as his husband spoke.

" It's going to be okay Kid." Len said quietly as he held Barry's hand. Barry sent Len a lopsided smile as he nodded wordlessly.

" It better be." Barry said, his voice shaking only slightly. Len smiled wanly before he spoke.

" You remember the way I showed you how to get to Hartley's quarters unseen right?" He asked cryptically.

" Yeah, I'll get there. You guys better get going too." Barry said before with a final squeeze he let go of Len's hand.

Steadying his own nerves and banishing his own uncomfortableness, Len then turned to Hannibal and gestured for them to head out. Hannibal looked to Barry, as if asking for permission. Barry found himself smiling warmly as he nodded, though he felt an irrational pang of jealousy as he watched Hannibal place his hand, painted and modified with the same mask material to look exactly like Barry's own hand, into Len's. Even though Len and Hannibal were just heading to Joe's quarters to meet up with the rest of the family, they had to keep up the appearance of a couple deeply in love.

Len sent Barry an apologetic look but Barry just shook his head and gestured for them to get going. With a final look, Len and Hannibal headed out of the royal apartments with Ronnie dutifully following after them, leaving Barry to himself. With a shaky breath and a prayer to every deity he could think of, Barry all but ran into the small, private library that was part of the royal apartments. Once he was inside, Barry made his way over to the far wall and pulled on the candleholder that was affixed to it, the holder going down like a lever. There was a soft, metallic click and then the wall was swinging away to reveal that it was actually a secret door with a dimly lit corridor hidden behind it. Barry stepped over the threshold and the secret door swung shut behind him as he disappeared into the secret palace hallway.

As he walked along the initial corridor, Barry reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. Unfolding it revealed it to be a map. In the weeks leading up to the engagement party, Len, wanting to err on the side of caution had decided that the royal apartments would be to obvious a place for Barry to stay during the party, so he had revealed this secret of the palace to his husband. There was a hidden network of corridors through the palace that only the king and his spouse ever got to know about. These corridors had a history of being used in both emergency situations when the palace was under attack and the King needed to escape, but also for certain scandalous activities for which secrecy was needed. Now as he followed the map that Len had given him to get to the guest quarters that had been assigned to Hartley, Barry could not help but feel grateful for this way to get around unseen, the last thing he needed was for the guards to see first Hannibal walking alongside Len in the main corridors, and then spot him and cause the plan to go haywire, and to also avoid making the guards on duty question their sanity too at seeing two identical versions of himself.

When Barry had asked Len why his husband hadn't revealed the secret tunnels to him sooner, Len had explained that the tradition was that the royal couple had to have been married for at least year, till they were sure of each other's trust before the tunnels were to be revealed. Len had given Barry one of his signature smirks as he had explained that since these were extraordinary circumstances and that their own one year anniversary was only a month away, the Snart ancestors were probably just rumbling a little and not fully rolling in their graves. Barry had been quick to forgive Len the delay in revealing this very important secret their home possessed, especially since that smirk of his always did leave Barry wanting to kiss his breathless, which he in fact did right after.

Barry banished such memories from his mind as he made quick work of navigating his way through the veritable maze of hidden corridors until he finally reached the end of the corridor that would leave him as close as possible to Hartley's quarters. Len had made sure that there would be no guards posted in the general area of where the secret door Barry had reached was located. Taking in a deep breath, Barry put away the map and then carefully pulled on the secret door's handle. On the other side, a piece of the castle wall basically fell away and the real Prince Consort of Nevar stepped out from behind it.

Barry quickly pulled the secret door shut and then made a B-line down the hallway that was in front of him. In long stride he made his way around the corner and sought out the first pair of dark, stained oak doors with a simply Nevarian snowflake emblem carved over them. Barry knocked three times and them waited, albeit a little impatiently as he glanced left and right to make sure the hallway was deserted. It was a welcome sound when the locks clicked on the other side and one of the doors swung away to reveal Hartley Rathaway. The young man now standing before Barry was the complete opposite of the half-frozen shell of a person that had literally fallen at the gates of the palace. The bruises had healed, and the scars that remained were beginning to fade both figuratively and literally. The square meals and actual medical treatment had done wonders for the young man. He stood up straighter, his dark brown hair lustrous and his face now spotting a healthy fullness and color. Hartley's eyes, once dulled with all the years of cruelty and abuse were now a vibrate dark green and held a quiet strength to them that had not been there before.

" My Prince." Hartley said with a shy smile as he stepped aside.

" Hey Hartley." Barry said with a warm smile before he quickly ducked inside. Hartley shut the door behind him and followed Barry into the living room area.

" You Highness I... I mean... have they?" Hartley asked hesitantly to which Barry stepped closed to the young man and gripped his shoulder.

" The plan is now in motion, His Majesty the King and the man serving as my decoy just went down to join the rest of my family for the grand entrance. The guests are arriving. The moment we know that Jesse is here at the Palace, Mark will dispatch Captain Bivolo and his regiment of guards to Jesse's estate to gather the evidence and free your family. We just have to wait for Ronnie to come and get us when the time is right." Barry watched, still smiling as Hartley's face crumbled with pure relief.

" Hey now, none of that." Barry eased as he squeezed Hartley's shoulder.

To his credit, Hartley quickly composed himself and nodded to the Prince Consort of Nevar. Barry drew away and spoke.

" Was everything delivered alright?" He asked.

" Yes your Highness, Lord Raymond delivered everything this morning. I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I just-"Hartley began to say when Barry help up his hand, instantly silencing him.

" Don't say that it's all too much because it'll never be enough for what you did for me and my family Hartley Rathaway. For as long as we both live, me and his Majesty the King will be in your debt." Barry said, meaning every word.

Hartley ducked his head to hide how furiously his face flushed before he composed himself and led the way to his bedroom. Once they were inside, their eyes immediately went to the two large trunks that were sitting on the floor at the foot of Hartley's four poster bed while two large wooden jewelry boxes rested on the bed itself.

Barry turned to look at Hartley.

" Let's get ready, we are one of the big surprises of the evening after all." Barry said with a glint of anticipation in his hazel green eyes, Hartley smiling back at him as he nodded.

" Of course your Highness."

With that in mind the pair proceeded towards the trunks and boxes that had been left for them, Hartley assuming the role that Cisco usually took in first helping Barry get dressed. He had spent nearly his whole life dressing Jesse so he knew what to do, only difference was that this time around he was actually honored and elated to help who was getting dressed.

 _Meanwhile, in Joe's apartments..._

" Man this is so freaky." Cisco said in amazement as he stared unashamed at Hannibal, who smiled back at him wearing Barry's face and in exactly the same way that Barry usually smiled. Everyone else in the room shared similar sentiments.

Cisco was dressed in a deep champagne colored Tudor jacket that had a pure white filigree overlay with black trousers and shiny black boots. Draped over his shoulders was a chain of gold flyer de lis' alternating with glittering yellow gems that were laced together with strings of pearls. At the center of the chain hung the Sunburst emblem of Central Kingdom in bright gold. On his right hand he word a signet ring proudly baring the Ramon family crest. Cisco had also got his hair trimmed at the end so that it now just barely reached his shoulders. He looked regal and handsome, but it was the bright light in his eyes that truly made him look the best, he was alive and getting officially engaged tonight despite the other, more dangerous agenda for the evening.

A look around the room saw Antonia dressed in a deep maroon gown, with her long black hair elegantly done up. Around her neck was an elegant necklace of rubies and white gems, a gift designed by Lisa herself. Dante was dressed in a black Tudor jacket with an elegant gold filigree overlay that looked like interlinked sunbursts. Draped over his shoulders was a chain of gold squares with square-cut yellow gems. His hair was well styled and his face still holding some stubble to add a little but of ruggedness to him. He too wore a gold ring on his right hand with the family crest. He and Cisco complemented each otter nicely tow here one could tell that they were related, but each standing out as himself.

Eddie was dressed in a pale blue Tudor jacket with a red sash across his shoulders baring the Central Kingdom emblem. Draped around his shoulders was a stunning sliver chain with white gems. On his head he wore a simple yet elegant silver coronet with white gem glittering at every point if the crown. Next to him Iris was regal and elegant in a matching pale blue and white gown with billowing sleeves and a bejeweled sweetheart neckline. Around her neck was a beautiful necklace of silver with white gems shaped like teardrops that glittered brightly in the light. Her hair was look and she wore a matching tiara of white diamond on her head. Eddie and Iris were yet another matching pair.

All of those hours of carefully observing Barry's facial expressions and mannerisms were paying off, for had they not known that this was a decoy sitting before them, Barry and Len's family would have though that it was the actual Prince Consort of Nevar.

Len crossed his arms where he stood with Joe a little removed from everyone else. Besides Cisco, Eddie, Iris, Antonia, and Dante were all openly staring at Hannibal, who didn't so much as bat an eye at the attention that was leveled on him.

" Those glass lenses sure are convincing." Joe said quietly to his son-in-law.

" Yup, still don't know how he can stand to have them on." Len replied.

" Is Barry with Hartley?" Joe asked, the King of Central Kingdom dressed in a regal bright red Tudor jacket with velvet sleeve and a matching floor length over jacket with lush looking light brown fur along the hem and over the shoulders. Draped over his shoulders was the heavy chain of gold and rubies the craftsmen had been working on in the gold worker's guild all those weeks ago, now resplendent and stunning in completion.

" Yeah, he should be there by now, I made sure the path was clear and discreet. They should both be getting ready for the evening as we speak." Len answered.

Joe's lips turned up into a half smile as he spoke.

" I can't wait to see the look on those bastards faces when the jig is up." He rumbled, delighted when Len smirked as well, his steely blue eyes bright with the promise of justice.

Lisa was secluded to her own apartments getting herself ready, with Caitlyn by her side. The Princess and soon to be bride would join them at the main gates. Len could not help but feel his heart both swell and bleed at the thought. This was still his baby sister's engagement party. She was getting married. Len did his best to keep his emotions in check, to keep a level head about himself in this actually terrifying situation. Hopefully if the plan went off accordingly, by the end of it he and his Barry would be the ones to actually walk Lisa to her intended husband.

Now they just had to wait for Harrison to come and get them when it would be time for them to make their grand entrance.

 _Outside at the main doors of the palace..._

General Mark Mardon stood tall and imposing, but no less handsome in gleaming new silver ceremonial armor. He stood at the great doors to the palace and greeted the party guests as they disembarked from their carriages and entered the grand palace. He smiled and greeted the noblemen and women as they passed him by. However, he was not their to simply greet guests, he was there to make sure that a certain Lord was in attendance. The guests had started arriving for the party about an hour ago, and the line was far reaching to say the least.

But if there was one thing that being the Head General of Nevar taught Mark, it was patience.

From where he stood at the entrance to the Great Hall receiving the party guests similar to Mark, Harrison was ironically sharing the sentiment regarding chief Royal Advisor and Healer of Nevar stood dressed in a regal Tudor jacket of deep bronze with a bight gold filigree pattern overlay in honor if Lisa and her love of gold. Draped around his shoulders was an elegant chain of glittering square-cut yellow gems with small black gems around the borders. From the center hung a golden Nevarian snowflake emblem with pearls inlaid within it. Tonight Harrison looked every bit the noble Lord he was, rather than the scholar and healer always dressed in black robes.

There were many appreciative gazes being leveled Harrison's way, and while he was flattered, he didn't pay them much mind. Though he remained as outwardly calm and collected looking as he always was, inside he heart was already pounding. Though he prayed that maybe by some miracle they caught Harkness before the assassin could infiltrate the palace, Harrison knew that the man was a world-class killer and more likely than not, he'd find a way in. Barry was safe and away at least, but the King, and also the brave man posing as Barry would still be a great risk. Harrison wanted this to be over, well and truly, but he knew that the long night was just beginning for this trap disguised as a party.

However, even with the full stress of what was really going on tonight, Harrison could not help think about a certain green eyed, brown haired, young man, his newest apprentice in the healing arts. Even with everything that was going on, Harrison could not help but think about Hartley Rathaway and how gorgeous the young man would look tonight in the formal attire he had heard the King and Prince had ordered be made for him by their own personal tailors. Harrison quickly shook himself out of his musings and turned his attentions back to greeting the who's who of Nevarian high society.

Back at the grand doors of the palace, Mark nodded to a noble couple and bid them a pleasant even before he turned his attentions to the next carriage that pulled up in the long line of carriages. What caught Mark's attention and had him instantly on high alert was just who the single occupant of this carriage that was a bit older than the other carriage and was being pulled by a pair of horses that looked a little to skinny for Mark's liking. Mark did his best to keep his emotions in check as he watched the palace footmen pull the carriages door open and lower the stairs. A few moments later, Lord James Jesse with his graying, dirty blond hair styled in such a way that it was nearly sticking up on end and wearing robes of a garish orange with blue stripes over his rotund frame, stepped out of the carriage with a grin. A chain of jewels ranging in bright greens and reds to dark blues and purples was draped over his shoulders, adding to the gaudy look.

" Hiya General Handsome." Jesse greeted as he made his way up the steps. Mark did his best not to throw up in his mouth as he forced his face into a polite smile ad gave the lord a small bow.

" Good evening my Lord Jesse, so pleased to see you after your absence from the Winter Solstice. How are you?" He asked.

" I'm doing swimmingly my dear Mardon. I had heard about what happened at the Winter Solstice, such dreadful business. Hopefully tonight will be smooth sailing for our dear princess and that delightful young man she's chosen for herself." Jesse said with an air of feigned sincerity that Mark found sickening.

 _" Oh you are going down so hard tonight you old shitbag."_ Mark thoughts he kept on smiling pleasantly and ushered Jesse to head in.

" Enjoy the evening my Lord." Mark called after him as Jesse sent him a grin and a wave before he proceeded inside. Once Jesse was out of sight, Mark let the forced smile drop from his face. The plan was already in motion, but now that Jesse was here at the party, Mark could go ahead with his task.

Freeing Hartley's family and finding the damning evidence needed to bury that smarmy old toad and his crooked nosed killer for hire.

Mark made quick work of getting to the stables were Captain Roy Bivolo was waiting with his blue roan stallion saddled and waiting.

" Is it time General?" Bivolo asked as he stood beside his horse.

" Indeed, are the rest of the men ready?" Mark asked as Bivolo quickly got on his horse.

" Yes General, they are waiting in the Eastern woods along with three wagons with the necessary supplies should they be needed." Bivolo replied. Mark allowed himself a half smile before he grew serious again.

" Remember, once you and you men get to Jesse's estate, your priority is getting the servants out of there, and then you look for the incriminating evidence we need."

Bivolo nodded, his face grim, about two weeks earlier he had been brought into the fold and told the truth about what was going on, and Lord James Jesse's involvement in both the stealing of Lord Scudder's cows and the assassination plot against the Prince that had nearly taken the life of Marquis Ramon.

" As you command my General." Bivolo said with a sharp nod before he headed out of the stables and used a side gate in the palace wall to disappear into the Eastern woods where his men were waiting for him.

Mark watched him go before he turned and headed back to the grand doors of the palace. As he passed by the many parked stately carriages that a veritable legion of palace guards were carrying out searches as an added security measure, his eyes lingered on Jesse's carriage, which was in the process of being searched by some of his men. As he drew nearer, the soldiers stood to attention at their commanding officer's approach.

" Find anything unusual in your searches?" Mark asked with an air of ease, all the while subtly taking a look inside Jesse's carriage himself.

" No sir, unless you could the rather... unique smell." One of Mark's men replied, while the other guards all did their best to not wince or laugh.

Too curious for his own good, Mark stepped closer to take a sniff and immediately regretting it. It appeared that while Lord Jesse had gone to great lengths to polish and primp the outside of the carriage, he had not done nearly as much for the inside, which in all honestly spelled like really, really dirty feet. And the fact that the seats and interior of the carriage had puce green cushions only made it that mush worst.

Shaking his head and not even bothering to hide his disgust, Mark turned away. He ordered his men to finish there search fast and move to the other carriages. Despite the rank smell, nothing seemed out of the ordinary regarding Jesse's carriage much to Mark's disappointment.

Mark headed back to the palace entrance to continue to greet guests while the soldiers were more than happy to move on. Once Jesse's carriage was deserted, it was then that the floor of the carriage suddenly moved, with someone grunting beneath the wood. With a low creak the floor was pushed away, and a man with a crooked nose and cold black eyes emerged. Digger Harkness stayed low and out of sight, his annoyance at having been cramped into that hidden compartment of Lord Jesse's carriage for over an hour with that revolting stench was assuaged by the fact that he was here in the palace grounds once more. He could not use the same plan as he had on the night of the Solstice Ball, of sneaking in with the wagons of supplies and sneaking out with the trash, since a stealthy reckon a few days back had shown him that that part of the palace was now under heavy guard. However, Harkness had remembered that there was another way he could get into and out of the palace with no one the wiser. A way which he happened to remember back when he was planning his entrance into the palace for the Solistice Ball.

Once he was sure the coast was clear, Harkness, dressed in a body hugging black suit pulled up the attached hood and swiftly exited the carriage through the door that was opposite the one that the guards had opened to search through, with a small each tight securely to his back. Once he was out of the carriage Digger quickly rolled underneath it. Staying low to the ground, Digger literally crab-walked his way from under one carriage to the next, and to the next until he was reaching the very back of the palace. Once there he rolled out from under the last carriage and sprinted as fast as he could into the shadows, cursing that the night was clear. For all of the beefed up security, the palace and good King Leonard had overlooked a weakness in their so-called fortress. As he moved along the wall, Hakness smiled as his ticket into the palace came finally came into view.

There low to the ground were a pair of storm cellar doors with a rusted only lock holding them shut. Digger crouched before these doors and reached for a small pouch on his utility belt. He undid the tie and carefully dumped a fine white power onto the lock. Within a few seconds the metal was melting with a soft sizzling, the corrosive agent eating through it. With a smirk, Digger used his gloved hands to lightly brush the remnants of the lock away before it at through the handles of the storm cellar doors as well. With a self-satisfied little smirk, Harkness eased one of the doors opened wide enough and ducked in, shutting the door behind him. It was not a moment to soon for the assassin as a pair of palace guards came around the corner and walked past, not noticing the storm cellar doors or the lock that was missing from them.

Once inside and allowing for his eyes to adjust, Digger's smirk only widened as he surmised that he was inside one of the palace's store-rooms. Unlike the last time where he had blended in with the servants, this time he would have to simply blend in with the shadows. Beneath his cape and hood, Harkness was basically wearing an arsenal. Besides his favorite boomerang blades that he had situated in his special chest guard, Harkness also had various powers which he could use to knock out and incapacitate anyone who came in his way. He was also carrying several smoke bombs that would help his disorient his intended target and aid him in his escape. Now that he was inside, the Great Hall was his intended destination. Once he was there he could finally seize his chance to take the most precious thing from both that son of a bitch Joe West, and also from the good King of Nevar. Hell it could also be a final insult to the late, _great_ King Henry Allen.

The life of Prince Bartholomew Henry Allen. He'd slaughter King Leonard's pretty little fucktoy and revel in the misery he'd cause.

 _About an hour later upstairs on the floor of Joe's apartments..._

A knocking on the doors to Joe's apartments had all eyes turning them as Joe immediately stepped forward to receive his visitor. The air was instantly tense with anticipation as everyone else went on the alert. Joe pulled the doors away to reveal a very well dressed Harrison Wells.

" King West." Harrison said with a small bow.

" Well look at you Lord Wells." Joe said with a warm smile despite the seriousness of the situation, for indeed Harrison cleaned up really well.

Joe quickly stepped aside and allowed Harrison to step inside, and the moment he did the Chief Advisor and Healer of Nevar did his best not to blush bright red at the many appreciative looks that were leveled his way.

" Cleaning up nicely as always." Len said said with a smile as he stepped forward and shook hands with his Chief Advisor and Healer. Harrison smiled warmly, but then his face grew serious as he spoke.

" The esteemed Lord Jesse has arrived." Harrison announced grimly. In an instant the air in the room grew dark with quiet anger, the smiles dropping off the many faces at the mere mention of one of tonight's intended targets.

" Has Mark dispatched Bivolo?" Len asked, taking charge.

" Yes my King, Bivolo and his men ride to Jesse's estate as we speak. Mark's seeing to the last of the guests. He told me that a search of Jesse's carriage yielded nothing save for an unfortunate odor." Harrison said before his face grew even grimmer. " My king I just have this feeling in my gut that Harkness is already here, that he's found a way in somehow."

Len nodded mutely as Hannibal came to stand beside him. Harrison opening stared at the man serving as Barry's decoy, astonished at just how accurately the man had mimicked the Prince Consort of Nevar.

" If that is the case, this Harkness fellow will be in for a grand surprise if he tries anything." Hannibal said in his regular, soft voice, totally jarring Harrison for a moment before the lord nodded in agreement.

" Well then, we best not keep our guests waiting. _Husband._ " Len said, with special emphasis on the last word as he held out his hand to Hannibal.

" My King." Hannibal said, now sounding just like Barry as he took the offered hand.

Hand in hand the King and the decoy led the way out of Joe's apartments, everyone else following them in no particular order, the formations would take place when they were at the doors to the great hall to make their entrance. The order in which they would be entering the Great Hall was actually a key component of the plan, and hopefully Harkness would fall for it.

As he walked hand in hand with his not husband, Len's heart was pounding hard with each step he took. What would happen in the next few minutes was anyones guess. His mind did ease a bit, knowing that Barry was safe and sound with Hartley at least.

 _Meanwhile, in Hartley's quarters..._

" You look amazing my Prince." Hartley said in slight awe as he stood respectfully behind Barry.

Barry had shed the simple attire he had come into Hartley's room wearing and now stood tall and proud in full royal regalia before the standing mirror in Hartley's bedroom.

He had on a bright red Tudor jacket with a vibrant gold filigree overlay on the sleeves. Over this he wore a matching sleeveless over-jacket with lush light brown fur over the shoulders and along the hem. Draped over his shoulders was a stunning chain of hexagon cut rubies inlaid in gold with glittering white diamonds surrounding them. At the center hung his emblem, the snowflake with a lighten bold going through it in delicate gold with pearls and glittering white diamonds. And finally around his waits was a jeweled belt of rubies and diamonds from which hung his father Henry's broadsword. He stood the true match to Len, but he would have to be patient to be reunited with his husband, until the threat was neutralized. With this reluctance lancing through his heart, Barry then turned to Hartley, who still stood in a plain black cotton Tudor Jacket and matching trousers.

" Alright Hartley, your turn." Barry said with a smile as Hartley began to stutter in astonishment. He was expecting to simply get dressed by himself now that he had finished assisting Barry, not that the Prince Consort of Nevar were turn around and then insist on helping him get dressed in return.

By the end of about half an hour it was now Hartley standing before the mirror, in awe of how he now looked. The young man, who had been through so mud and never really owned anything in all his life, now stood dressed in a deep, emerald green Tudor jacket that fit him like a glove. Draped over his shoulders was a simple chain of silver with bright, oval cut emeralds and sea green gemstones with the Nevarian Snowflake in silver and white diamond hanging from its center. Black trousers and shiny new knee length black boots finished off the look. Gone was the starved and abused former slave of Lord James Jesse, now stood a young man healthy and handsome.

Hartley's eyes were over bright as he gazed at himself, never having believed in even his wildest dreams that he would ever look like this, with the Prince Consort of Nevar himself smiling behind him.

" It's a good look on you Hartley Rathaway." Barry said with his grin widely as he reached out and gave Hartley's shoulder a squeeze, the young man ducking his head shyly to his his blush.

" T-Thank you your Majesty." Hartley said softly.

" C'mon, let's go wait out in the living room. Hopefully we won't have to sit for too long." Barry said as he headed out of the bedroom with Hartley following behind him.

 _Meanwhile, at the outskirts of the kingdom where a dilapidated estate stood..._

Axel did his best not to wince as Tony gently applied some liniment over the fresh welts that stood out angry in purple and red over his back. The two of them were currently in the kitchen at the table in the center with Linda by the stove with one of the other girls getting dinner, if one could even call it that, ready for everyone, ladling the disgusting grayish white porridge into the many metal bowls Jesse allowed them to eat out of. In the weeks leading up to the grand engagement of her Highness Princess Lisa, Lord Jesse had given new meaning to the word "hellish". The man had been more insufferable than usual, had intentionally been messier to add to the already backbreaking work, and had been even more quick to take out the strap and use it on anyone that struck his fancy.

Tonight, just before he had left for the party, Jesse had caught Axel just taking a small break from scrubbing the floors of the kitchen and just lost it. Jesse had grabbed Axel by the hair and dragged the boy boy to his study, ranting about what a lazy pig Axel was despite the poor young man's hands already being red from all the scrubbing he'd been doing all day, Jesse having inexplicably ordered the entire hour cleaned despite everything being in order. Axel had found himself bracing against Jesse's desk and taking every biting blow from the strap before Jesse had calmed down, shoved Axel out of his study and had lumbered upstairs to get ready for the party, screaming for Linda and Tony to get his clothes out and dress him.

Once Jesse had come down the stairs looking garish in his orange and blue striped outfit, Harkness had materialized from the shadows, dressed in black with his boomerang blades gleaming where they were attached to his chest guard. The killer had smiled at the servants, leering at Axel in particular. It had chilled Axel to his very core, the promise of ill-intent in those cold black eyes. Harkness had then disappeared, most likely to go into his hiding place within the carriage while Jesse had been occupied with the driver that he had rented for the evening, no doubt trying to weald his way out of paying the man the full amount. Then Jesse and the driver had headed out of the house, leaving Axel and the other servants to themselves, forbidding them from even touching any food other than the gruel he usually let them have.

Tony had just finished applying the lineament to the last of Axel's fresh welts when there was loud, insistent knocking on the front doors. Sharing a look, Axel quickly pulled on his shirt and headed towards the front doors, Tony, and Linda following him. Axel's heart was pounding almost clear out of his chest as he reached the front doors and opened them.

Axel, Tony, and Linda all froze as the doors opened to reveal a grim looking Captain Roy Bivolo along with the garrison of soldiers he had brought with him, all dressed in gleaming silver armor. For a long moment there was only silence and then Bivolo finally spoke.

" Will you grant us entry sir?" He asked formally.

Axel blinked owlishly, having never been addressed as 'sir' in all his life before he quickly nodded and stepped aside, Tony and Linda following suit.

" Thank you." Bivolo said as he stepped across the threshold with his men following, those who had been driving the covered wagons staying outside.

Once the soldiers were inside, Axel and Tony quickly closed the doors before they and Linda followed in the soldiers wake into the foyer. Bivolo turned to Axel and spoke.

" May I have everyone in the house gathered here please?" He asked, once more jarring Axel, Tony, and Linda, who were use to only harsh orders from anyone of authority.

" O-Of course sir." Axel said before he, Tony, and Linda all split up to get everyone.

It took a good twenty minutes but by the end of it everyone, all twenty-four souls were gathered at the top floor, all of them wondering what was going on. Bivolo stood stunned at both the number and the poor state of these long sufferers of Jesse's cruelty, and his men were no better, but he quickly reigned in his emotions and spoke.

" I am Roy G. Bivolo, Captain in the army of Nevar. It has come to the attention of his majesty the King that your master, Lord James Jesse had partaken in several high crimes including theft and cruelty towards human being and animal alike, but above all conspiracy against the Crown of Nevar, specifically a plot to assassinate his royal Highness Prince Bartholomew Henry Allen, husband to his Majesty the King."

The way that none of the the servants showed any surprise at this revelation was not lost on Bivolo and his men as the captain continued.

" By order of his Majesty King Leonard Snart, you are all hereby released from servitude under Lord James Jesse. I have been tasked with removing you all from this estate and taking you straight to the palace where you are all to receive medical treatment and recover. Any questions?"

Bivolo's words were met with dead silence, the many servants all just gawking at him with wide eyes and open mouths. Then Linda was letting out this ear splitting shriek before she all but flew across the room and tackled Bivolo in a hug. That was the drop that opened the floodgates as more screams and shouts sounded and the people, now free people, all rushed forward and buffeted Bivolo and his men. There were cries of sheer joy and laughter from many, while others were too stunned to speak as they kissed the hands of the soldiers and kept asking them if this was real. Not even the soldiers could keep their composure in the face of such pure joy, they were seeing in these unfortunate souls, many of them shedding a few tears and carefully hugging back alarmingly thin bodies.

It took a good long while for things to calm down but when they did, Bivolo had never seen a house empty so rapidly in all his life. The poor men and women all but ran out of the house into the cold night air without care, some of them padding barefoot to the waiting wagons. The now freed servants all piled into the wagons, where the soldiers handed out warm blankets and the food that had been packed. As cursory search of the house was carried out, where a pair of Bivolo's men found the sealed up entrance to the cattle tunnel.

Axel, Tony, and Linda did not join their fellows in the wagons, they stayed with Bivolo. Bivolo turned to them and spoke.

" My main priority was to free you all, but his Majesty told me I was also supposed to bring something back with me, something I assume you three know about." He said. Axel, Tony, and Linda all nodded before Linda stepped forward.

"Come with us, we'll show you were we hid it." Linda said grimly.

With a nod, Bivolo followed Linda as she led the way to Jesse's study. Once they were inside, Linda and Tony stepped forward towards one of the windows. Tony looked down at the panel wood in front of the window and then reached his fingers under neath it. With a small grunt Tony ripped the panel clean off, revealing the rectangular crevice beneath it. As Tony uncaringly tossed the piece of wood away, Linda came forward and reached into the crevice, pulling out a large, old looking black leather bound book with a sinister looking symbol emblazoned in red over the front cover. She then turned and held out out to Bivolo, who looked upon the book with disdain.

This was the forbidden tome of dark arts, the tome that had been used to nearly take the life of Barry and Cisco, and was the key to Hartley gaining his freedom. And now, it was the bringing of Lord James Jesse's ultimate downfall. It had been right under Jesse's nose for all these months.

"Let's get out of here." Bivolo said quietly.

Axel nodded, clenching his jaw tightly before he turned to gaze at Jesse's immaculately organized desk with blazing blue eyes, which he had just this morning painstakingly organized because Jesse had demanded it. Breathing hard through his clenched teeth, Axel rushed forward and hooked his hands of the edge of the desk and gave it an almighty push with a furious yell.

Bivolo's eyes were wide as he watched the young man, so thin and pale, flip his former master's heavy desk on end with enough force to actually crack the wood. Linda and Tony looked on in silent approval before Tony made his way around the ruins of the desk to grab the garish portrait of Jesse that was hanging on the wall behind the desk in its gilded frame. Since he was so tall Tony easily took to off the wall and then promptly smashed the painting over the broken desk, letting the pieces of wood that were sticking up skewer the canvas and slash apart Jesse's painted face. When Bivolo turned to Linda, he found her standing before a large armoir with frosted glass doors standing across from the desk. She ripped open the doors and revealed the many devices of cruelty punishment that Jesse kept there. Bivolo felt bile rush into his mouth as he saw the whips and straps, and even the cat o'nine tails that were on display within the armoir. With a savage roar of her own, Linda pulled on the side of the armoir and toppled it. She watched with satisfaction despite the tears coursing down her face as its contents spilled over the floor and its glass doors shattered.

Bivolo kept silent, letting these three brave souls have this moment of catharsis. Once they had calmed a bit, Linda, Axel, and Tony all walked out of Jesse's now ruined study without a backward glance, Bivolo following in their wake. Once they were outside, Bivolo ushered Axel, Tony, and Linda into the front most carriage while he placed the tome in his saddleback and fastened it securely shut before mounting up.

From where he sat just about flattened between Tony and Linda, Axel could't keep the smile of his face even as his hands trembled. They were free, and now he couldn't wait to be reunited with Hartley Rathaway, the brother who made it all possible.

Captain Bivolo shouted his command and then they were off, back through the wooded path to provide extra security. Barring anything unforeseen, they would be back to the palace within the hour.

(Please try listening to "Christmas Tide" of the soundtrack to the show The Tudors Season 3).

 _At said palace..._

" You look beautiful sis." Len said with a smile as he beheld his baby sister, holding her at arms length .

Lisa was resplendent in a flowing champagne color gown with billowing sleeves. The bodice had intricate threading work done in vibrant gold thread with a off shoulder neckline that had strings of pearls draped from it. There was more of that intricate threading around the hem of the dress. At her waist was a golden belt with the Nevarian Snowflake emblem at its center. Around her neck Lisa wore a choker of golden flowers and pearls. This was the special necklace Cisco had commissioned for his bride to be. Lisa had originally planed to wear a couple of gold chains around her neck when a smiling Ronnie had shown up baring an ornate jewelry box, saying that it was a gift from Cisco. Lisa had taken one look inside and nearly shattered Ronnie and Caitlyn's eardrums with how loudly she had yelled out in pure joy. And atop her head, with her lush, chocolate brown hair done in an elegant half-up, half down style, she work a tiara of golden flowers with pearls at each point, similar to her necklace. Here eyes were lightly painted with kohl while her lips were a deep, striking red. She was angelic, with a hint of sassiness.

A few feet away Caitlyn stood dressed in a deep blue gown with a choker of blue sapphires around her neck and her hair elegantly braided. She was the perfect complement to Ronnie who was currently in the other alcove, he would be accompanying Cisco tonight instead of usually being right there by Len's side as his page. Hannibal, stood off to the side with Harrison and Eddie on either side him and watched on with a smile, feeling privileged to be there among them but also feeling saddened for it was supposed to be Barry here seeing his sister-in-law in all her elegant beauty. Instead the Prince Consort was in seclusion and missing out. They were all currently in a secluded alcove of the Great Hall, the deep rumble of the many guests within the hall muffled but there.

Once Len and Hannibal had reached the doors to the great hall with their entourage, they had split up, with Cisco's family and Joe and Iris heading off to the alcove on the right, while Len, Hannibal, Eddie, Harrison and Ronnie had headed to the alcove on the left where Lisa and Caitlyn were already waiting.

Now they all had to wait for the gong to sound and the royal announcements to begin. The plan was to be as formal as possible thus lulling Jesse into a false sense of security and giving Harkness ample opportunity to strike and thus fall into the trap.

Sure enough, within a few minutes a loud gong sounded, reverberating through the entire Great hall and making all who were inside it fall silent.

" Show time." Len declared as he and Lisa parted and everyone within the alcove lined up in the order they were going to go out.

Then, the royal announcer's voice sounded.

" All who gather this evening make way, for comes before you the royals of Central Kingdom and Nevar, your hosts for this a glorious evening!"

There was a pause before the doors to the alcove were pulled open by the guards who were standing watch on the other side.

" Presenting, his royal Highness King Joseph Martin West, Supreme Ruler of Central Kingdom!" Boomed the announcer's voice.

As he looked past both Eddie and Harrison who were standing ahead of him, Len could see Joe step out, a picture of regality and poise. Then the announcer's voice sounded again.

" Accompanying him, his Grace Lord Harrison Thomas Wells, Chief Advisor and Healer of Nevar!"

Without missing a beat, Harrison stepped forward out into the Great Hall, walking towards Joe. The two men met at the center where the cerulean blue aisle began. They stood facing each other, both silently sending each other reassurance through a warm look before Harrison bowed before the King of Central Kingdom who nodded. Then they turned on their heels and stood side by side before proceeding down the blue aisle at a sedate pace so that the crowd could get a nice long look.

From where he was back in Hartley's quarters, Barry was on high alert, his ears having caught the faint sound of the gong from the Great Hall, signaling the start of the ceremony. It took all Barry had not to just run out of the room and get to his family, but he stayed put with Hartley sitting beside him looking just as anxious. The plan was for Barry to stay here with Hartley and wait for Ronnie to come and get them when the time was right. As he sat there, Barry could feel the filed up map of the hidden tunnels of the palace that he put in his inner jacket pocket. He was already thinking about the tunnels that could take him to the Great Hall the fastest. He would stick to the plan and stay put, for now at least.

 _Back at the Great Hall..._

Joe and Harrison were about a quarter of the way down the blue aisle when the announcer's voice sounded.

" Presenting, her royal Highness, Iris Elizabeth Mary West Princess of Central Kingdom."

Iris stepped out of the alcove and stood still, looking resplendent as the princess she was as she waited for the announcer to continue.

" Escorting her, his Royal Highness, Edward James Anthony Thawne, Prince Consort of Central Kingdom!"

Eddie then stepped out from the alcove and together, he and Iris stepped forward towards each other till they met at the center. Eddie bowed to his wife, while Iris curtseyed back to him. Then they both turned to face the crowd and linked their arms together before starting down the blue aisle.

From where he and Joe were not halfway down the aisle, Harrison subtly scanned the crowds and saw many familiar faces, like Kyle Nimbus with his parents, Shawna Baez who worked at the gold workers guild was there with her family as well. Harrison also spotted a happy Lord Roscoe Dillion with his son and daughter-in-law, who was beautiful with the glow of pregnancy. Lord Samuel Scudder and his family were in attendance tonight as well, the good lord looking so much more improved now that the disappearances of his cattle had stopped. Harrison could not help but smile inwardly, hoping that after tonight, when Lord Scudder would finally receive some answers as to just who was responsible for it all, the man could finally have full peace of mind.

Then Harrison's eyes fell on Lord James Jesse, who was chatting it up with a noble lady despite the fact that she clearly wanted to see the royal procession. It took every ounce of will Harrison had not to just go over there and bury his fist into that awful, abusive piece of shit's face for everything he had done. Instead Harrison focused his attention on keeping decorum along side Joe and sticking to the plan. He needed to be patient, justice would come swiftly if all went according to plan. With that in mind, Harrison and Joe made their way towards the raised dais, where Mark was already waiting off to the side, his silver armor gleaming.

Back in the alcove Len took a deep breath, smiling when he felt Lisa's hand on his shoulder. He then turned his attention to Hannibal beside him, eying how calm the man disguised as his husband looked. It just made the King feel even more guilty, that this man was putting himself in such danger for him and his family.

" We'll get them my king." Hannibal said without turned to look at Len.

" Yeah, we will." Len said with a nod before he turned his attention back to the proceedings as the announcer's voice sounded.

" Presenting, her Ladyship Antonia Esperanza Cortez Ramon, accompanied by her eldest son, Lord Dante Raul Ramon, beloved mother and brother of Marquis Cisco Antonio Ramon!"

Len felt his heartbeat skyrocket as he watched Cisco's mother and brother enter the Great Hall through the opposite alcove, knowing that once Antonia and Dante had made it a quarter of the way down the aisle, he and Hannibal would be up next. Dante was smiling, while Antonia already looked like she would burst into tears at any second. Mother and son made their way to the start of the blue aisle and bowed and curtseyed to the crowd before they started walking down the long blue carpet at the sedate pace that had been set by Harrison and Joe, who had now reached the steps of the raised stone dais where the ceremony would take place.

The minutes passed by agonizingly slow, but sure enough, the announcer's voice boomed once more.

" Presenting, their Majesties, King Leonard Lewis Richard Snart, and Prince Consort Bartholomew Henry Allen, the Supreme Rulers of Nevar."

Paralysis struck Len for a moment, he stood there in the alcove not budging as a million thoughts ran through his mind. But then he forced his feet to move, walking hand in hand with Hannibal out of the alcove.

Len felt like he had a live current running through his whole body, a buzz beneath his skin as he and Hannibal made their way to the start of the blue aisle. Len and Hannibal bowed to the crowd, Len plastering a smile onto his face that he honestly did not feel but hoped was passable, while Hannibal used his skills at mimicry to smile like Barry.

Hand in hand the King of Nevar and his husband's decoy made their way down the blue aisle, nodding and waving at familiar faces as the unknowing guests bowed to who they believed were their royals. Len too caught sight of Lord Jesse in all his garish attire. The Lord had the gaul to smile brightly at him, to which Len had to used all the will he possessed in his body not to simply hurtle through the crowd and get his hands of Jesse and tear the murderous son of a bitch to shreds himself. Instead Len nodded before turning his attentions fully to the rest of his surrounding. He was hyper-aware of everything from the many admiring guests to the guards standing to attention on either side of the blue aisle. Anything could happen, and that was the worst feeling.

By the time Len and Hannibal were halfway down the aisle, still nothing had happened. While a small part of him wanted to think that maybe Harkness had not gotten in somehow, that the security measures had been enough to repel the killer that wanted his husband's blood, Len wasn't letting his guard down for a second as he and Hannibal continued to walk.

From where they all stood, Len and Barry's family, from Joe to Antonia were just as tense, their eyes scanning for anything out of the ordinary with the large crowd none the wiser as to what was really going on.

Then, just as Len and Hannibal were but a few feet away from the dais, something small and black suddenly caught Len's eyes as it sailed through the air right above them. The next thing Len knew, there was an unearthly 'bang' as the small black thing exploded above him and Hannibal.

" Len!" Joe screamed, moving to rush forward before Mark could stop him.

Len was momentarily stunned, but then his eyes caught sight of the figure cloaked in black standing by one of the side entrances into the Great Hall, a man with cold dark eyes and a crooked nose.

It was Digger Harkness, with a cold smirk on his face. Before Len could even shout, the assassin was reaching at his chest and pulling out a wicked, curved blade and drawing his hand back, his dark eyes fixed on the person standing next to was instantly in action, using his own body as a shield as he crowded everyone to the other side of the dais and away from Harkness where the cold-blooded killer was standing.

" No!" Len screamed, watching with the world somehow slowed to a crawl as Harkness threw his boomerang blade, the weapon cutting through the air in a graceful arc, right past Joe's shoulder.

In the next instant Len watched on in horror as the blade buried itself right into Hannibal's chest, knocking the man clear off his feet. Despite knowing it was Hannibal, the man was wearing Barry's face, making Len feel like his worst nightmare was coming true. Len was instantly dropping to his knees beside Hannibal to make sure the decoy was alright.

In the distance Len could hear the screams and shouts of the guests, but his focus was on Hannibal.

" Hannibal!" Len shouted as Joe reached them, dropping down to his knees on Hannibal's other side to check that the mimicker was alright.

The decoy lay on his back, a stunned look on his face through the mask of Barry. With a small groan Hannibal pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked down and his chest where the boomerang blade was sticking out right over his left pectoral. The blade was in, but there was not blood gushing, no pain. The armor and extra batting had done its work and stopped the blade from doing its intended work.

" I'm okay, it didn't get through the armor!" Hannibal shouted as he looked up at Len.

From where he stood, Harkness was flabbergasted by the sight of the king's little pet was up and moving and not even bleeding even with a fucking boomerang blade stuck clearly in his chest. As he watched King Leonard rise to his feet, his steely blue eyes filled with unbridled rage, Harkness quickly pulled out another two boomerang blades.

Well, if he couldn't kill Henry Allen's smarmy little son, he could make the brat suffer by watching as his beloved husband got two blades buried in his face. As Len moved to unsheathe his sword, Harkness drew back his arm to throw the blade in his right hand. Just as Harkness was about to let his loose his first blade when there was a primal scream of rage, and the sound of metallic singing through the air. The next this Harkness knew, his right arm was exploding in monstrous agony. As metallic clatter had Harkness looking down to see his boomerang blade on the ground, still held in his right hand, which was also on the ground severed, and in a rapidly growing pool of dark crimson blood.

Harkness threw his head back and screamed in pure agony as he clutched at his bloody stump, but then he was roughly yanked around and found himself face to face with the last person he was expecting.

Prince Bartholomew Henry Allen, with his father's now bloodied sword clenched in one hand, and a look of raw fury on his face.

Before Harkness could even try to make sense of it all in his agony riddled mind, Barry was drawing his free hand back and letting it fly, burying his fist right into Harkness's face with a resounding crunch. Harkness went flying backwards, the back of his head smacking into the stone wall behind him. The assassin slumped to the ground out cold, with his nose broken and bleeding profusely from his severed hand.

With a shaky breath Barry turned away from his would be killer and face the stunned crowd. He cared not about the many eyes that were leveled on him, his eyes zeroed in on only one person, Len, who was standing there stunned. The moment hazel green eyes met those of steely blue, they two of them were rushing forward. His father's sword slipped from barry's hand and hit the floor with a loud clatter as he all but flew across the distance between him and his husband.

" Len!" Barry shouted as he face broke out into a wide, relieved grin.

" Barry!" Len shouted back as he barreled towards his husband.

They met in front of the dais in a tangle of limbs as they all but tackled each other while their mouths smashed together in a desperate kiss. They distantly heard Mark shouting orders at his men to seize an unconscious Harkness and make sure the now crippled assassin did not bleed out right then and there on the floor of the Great Hall. Harkness was soon being disdainfully dragged away by the guards, no doubt to be dumped into the dungeons where a healer would make sure he would survive. He had already faced the wrath of Nevar's Prince Consort, but he still had the wrath of Nevar's King to look forward to.

When Barry and Len finally pulled back from each other with a gasp, they stayed close as Len reached up and seized Barry's face in his hands.

" What the Hell are you doing here Kid?" He asked sternly. Barry just shook his head as he clung to the material at the back of Len's jacket.

" I tried to stay put, I did, but I just couldn't sit by and do nothing, not when all of you were in danger." Barry said, a stubborn defiance in his eyes despite the telling sheen of salt making them over bright.

Len let out a huff despite himself and then pulled Barry in for another deep kiss.

" Len, Barry!" Came a pair of unexpected voices. Barry and Len broke apart to see Lisa and Cisco rushing towards them hand in hand with Ronnie and Caitlyn behind them.

Len and Barry soon found themselves tackled as both Lisa and Cisco seized them in bone-bending hugs. Soon Len and Barry were surrounded by the rest of the family, all of them from Joe to even Harrison taking turn squeezing them.

 _Meanwhile, outside..._

The main gates of the palace opened with a metallic clang, and once they fell away, Captain Bivolo atop his blue roan stallion came charging in with his mounted soldiers and the three covered wagons behind him. When the entire procession pulled up in front of the grant doors of the palace, Captain Bivolo quickly dismounted and began barking orders to the guards that came to greet them.

" Get every single one of them to the medical wing immediately, by order of the king they are to be fed, clothed, and treated. They are to want for nothing do you understand?" Bivolo barked.

A chorus of 'yes sirs' answered him before the soldiers went about gently helping the newly liberated servants of Lord Jesse's estate out of the wagons. Bivolo made his way to his stallion, giving the tired creature a good pat on the neck before he reached for the large saddle bag over the horses shoulders and took the entire thing off of the animal before letting a stable attendant tend to the animal. While his men had their orders to help Hartley's family, Bivolo needed to get upstairs to the Great Hall.

 _Back at the Great Hall..._

From where he stood, Lord James Jesse was wide eyed with horror as he gazed at the disgusting, love filled reunion of Barry and Len with their family. Unlike the rest of the crowd, who were horrified at seeing someone try to harm their Prince Consort, Jesse was feeling horrified only for himself as he dream of seeing Barry dead crumbled to ruin along with the man he had hired to do the deed. Now though, as he broke out into a cold sweat, Jesse focused of finding a way to get out of there.

The old Lord started cutting through the crowd towards the doors to the alcove, coming up with a plan to feign illness and get to the healing ward or something. He had made it just a few feet before a firm hand was clamping down on his shoulder. Feeling his insides freeze, Jesse turned and found himself face to face with a smiling Mark Mardon, except there was no happiness in the way the man was smiling at him, only a dangerous edge as the Head General of Nevar spoke.

" Where do you think your going my Lord Jesse?" He asked, still smile that shark's smile.

" Well I... I just, felt a bit light headed and I just wanted to sit down and..." Jesse trailed off as Mark shook his head and tightened his hold over Jesse's shoulder as he spoke.

" But his Majesty the King wishes for you to come before him." Mark said with mock cheer before yanked Jesse forward.

Jesse's stuttered protests fell on deaf ears as Mark made his way back to Len and Barry.

" Y-Your Majesties." Jesse stuttered as he bowed to Len and Barry.

Len and Barry just eyed Lord Jesse coldly before Len stepped forward and turned his attentions to the crowd and spoke.

" Ladies and Gentlemen, please forgive me for what has happened here tonight. While it is true that on this night there will be an engagement ceremony for my sister, tonight was also a carefully laid out trap against those who wished to harm my husband the Prince." Len declared, causing an excited murmur to ripple through the entire hall.

" Come forward Sir Bates." Len commanded.

Hannibal still dressed like Barry stepped forward, having pulled out the boomerang blade from his chest with some assistance from Joe, leaving only the hole the blade had left in both the fabric and the metal armor beneath.

" Before you stands Sir Hannibal Bates of Central Kingdom, a professional decoy brought in by his majesty King West to take my husband's place and face the threat of assassination head of."

With that, Hannibal promptly reached up and pulled off his mask, causing many to cry out as he basically peeled off Barry's face and revealed his own before everyone, causing many to cry out in astonishment.

Jesse himself gawked where he stood, but that still didn't explain why he was here before the king.

" Sir Bates performed his duties and shall be honored accordingly." Len declared, as he and Barry both sent him warm smiles. The smiles dropped from their faces however, when they turned their attention to the grubby old man standing before then in orange and blue. Len's steely blue eyes were like two chips of ice as he and Barry stepped forward and glared down at Jesse as Len spoke.

" While catching Harkness was a main priority of mine, I also wanted to know just who was behind the killer for hire. A very reliable source came forward some weeks ago and revealed to me the party behind this plot to assassinate my husband." Len said, his voice booming through the hall before he raised his finger and pointed straight at Jesse.

" It was you Lord James Jesse!"

There was a beat of stunned silence and then the hall was erupting as everyone started to speak at once. Len allowed it to go one for a bit until he held up his hand and the hall quickly grew silent. Jesse's eyes had grown wide in panic as he shook his head.

" Lies my King! I did no such thing! Whoever told you this rubbish just wants to do me in, ruin me! I am a faithful subject to the crown of Nevar!" Jesse cried, doing all he could too look pitiful and confused.

Barry did his best to keep the disgust from showing on his face as he stepped forward.

" Then as a subject, you have the right to face your accuser." Barry declared, before he looked past Jesse and Mardon to the guards standing at the closed doors to the Great Hall. With a gesture of his hand Barry ordered them to be opened.

The guards did as Barry commanded and pulled on the levers on either side of the great doors. With a metallic clang and a low groan the doors slowly fell away to reveal a young man standing on the other side. At Barry's gesture, the young man stepped over the threshold into the hall, keeping his eyes focused straight ahead as all eyes were on him.

Jesse squinted a bit because the young man was too far away for him to make out a face, but as the young man came closer, Jesse felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as recognition donned on him.

" Y-You?" Jesse whispered as he beheld the servant he was under the impression had committed suicides several weeks earlier.

Hartley Rathaway gazed at his pale and gobsmacked former master with cold blue eyes as he stepped past the man, making his way to stand before Len and Barry.

" Your Majesties." He said with a deep bow. Len and Barry both acknowledged him with a smile before Hartley straightened and Len addressed the crowd.

" This is Hartley Rathaway, some of you may know him under a different name and in his position as a new apprentice in the Healer's wing. The false name was for his own protection. Before he came to us, he was a servant in the household of Lord James Jesse for twenty years. It was through Hartley that I came to know just what kind of man Lord James Jesse truly is." Len seethed, before he began to explain Hartley's harrowing story of the abuse he had endured and the desperate way he had faked his death in order to escape and tell him and Barry the truth about what was going on.

By the end of it there were many accusing and disgusted gazes leveled at Jesse, who still looked on in defiance and denial.

" My King I beg of you, do not listen to this little miscreant, he lies, just to get into your good graces!" Jesse cried desperately.

" The scars on Hartley's back and the specific information he gave about the forbidden tome you used, and the confirmation of Lord Wells say otherwise. But just to provide something more concrete than mere words, earlier in the night, once your attendance was confirmed, Captain Roy G. Bivolo and a small garrison of soldiers were dispatched to your home to conduct a thorough search and more importantly, free those poor souls you had the gaul to think you could keep in such a manner." Len shot back.

" Y-You won't find anything there your Majesty I swear. There is nothing to incriminate me, nothing because I-" Jesse began to shout before he caught himself.

" Because you what, Lord Jesse?" Barry asked with the barest hint of a smirk on his features. Hartley looked over his shoulder and found Harrison smiling at him, to which he smiled back shyly.

Lisa had a look of savage glee on her beautiful features while Cisco looked on satisfied but grim as the man who nearly killed him floundered. Iris was smiling as well, while Eddie was gritting his teeth. Joe had his fists clenched tightly, while Antonia's eyes were swimming with angry tears. Dante stood behind Cisco with his hand on his little brother's shoulders, looking on in grim satisfaction. Ronnie had his arm around Caitlyn, the two of them silent but clearly angry as they glared at Jesse. Mark smiled at Hartley from where he stood behind Jesse, barring any chance of escape, nodding at Harrison who wordlessly came to stand behind Hartley in silent support. Hartley looked over his shoulder and smiled shyly at Harrison.

" B-Because I did nothing of which that little rat is accusing me!" Jesse said with a nervous giggle, earning only glares from Len and Barry.

" My King!" Called a voice from the doors to the Great Hall, all eyes once again going to the entrance where Captain Roy G. Bivolo now stood, holding a large saddlebag.

" Come forward Captain, we've been expecting you." Len called.

Bivolo made hast and rushed down the blue aisle, feeling distinctly uncomfortable at all the eyes that were on him. As he reached Len and Barry in the middle of the blue aisle, he spared Jesse a glare before he turned to his rulers and bowed.

" How was your night Captain?" Barry asked casually.

" Enlightening my Prince." Bivolo replied before he continued.

" When my men and I reached Lord Jesse's house, we found twenty-four servants in total, some bruised from recent beatings, others barely able to stand, all sickeningly malnourished. As per your orders, my men and I have safely transported them here to the palace where they have been taken to the Healing Wing to be treated."

Hartley's knees gave out beneath him as he sagged in pure relief, Harrison being quick to catch the young man and hold him steady before Len spoke.

" Did you search yield anything?" Len asked, eying the saddle bag Bivolo was holding with interest.

" Indeed my King." Bivolo replied before he undid the clasps and pulled out what was inside the bag.

Jesse could not hold in his gasp of horror as Bivolo pulled out the Forbidden tome in all its black leather bound glory.

" Impossible! Impossible, I ordered that thing burned!" Jesse screamed before he could stop himself.

Len smirked humorlessly as he reached up and wrapped his arm around Barry's shoulders, his husband chuckling despite himself. There were gasps of shock and murmurs through the whole hall. Then Bivolo spoke.

" A search of the house also yielded the tunnel in the lowest basement. It's there, filled with debris but there." he confirmed. At the many looks of askance, Len explained.

" This tunnel my Captain speaks of has to do with the assassination attempt that occurred on the night of the Winter Solstice, when Harkness poisoned my husband's wine." Len began before glaring at Jesse, who was sweating profusely now. Pointing an accusing finger, Len continued.

" You used the forbidden tome my Captain is holding to resurrect an ancient poison. The process of making the poison requires that it be distilled through the stomach of an animal, and the best animal for the task would be a cow. To that end, it was you who started stealing Lord Samuel Scudder's cows by siphoning them though a tunnel beneath you home!"

" It was you Jesse? You thieving bastard piece of filth!" Lord Scudder cried in outrage as he wife tried to hold him back. From where he stood Lord Roscoe Dillon was pale and shaky, looking ready to collapse at the startling revelation about his former friend, now revealed to be a murderous traitor to the crown of Nevar.

The rest of the hall rumbled in discontent, many people hurling insults at Jesse who stood there sweating like a pig and stuttering.

" Hartley's account as an eyewitness started this, but I have no doubt that those others souls now free from your clutches would be more than happy to give their statements." Barry said firmly.

At the sound of his voice, something in Jesse just snapped. With a banshee wail Jesse suddenly had a knife in his hand and lunged forward out of Mark's grip with more speed than was thought capable of a man his size and age. He barreled right for Barry.

" I'll gut you, you stupid cunt!" Jesse roared as he thrust the blade at Barry.

Barry was about to take a defensive stance, and Len was about to step in front of his husband to deflect the blow when sudden Hartley was in Jesse's path.

" Hartley no!" Harrison yelled in dismay.

Instead of tragedy, everyone watched as Hartley knocked the knife clean out of Jesse's hand with swift grace. Then the young man, who had come into their lives so frail and near death, drew his hand back and sent his fist flying with all his might. James Jesse saw stars as he jaw exploded in pain and he tumbled backwards. He hit the floor with grunt, the wind knocked out of him, wheezing like a goat as he lay dazed.

Hartley let out a shaky breath and looked past a moaning Jesse to Mark who stood with a stunned look on his face. In all honesty the entire hall was gazing at him in astonishment.

" T-Thank you for the self-defense lessons Mark, I've been wanting to do that for a while." Hartley said with a tremulous smile. In an instant Mark's face was breaking out into a wide and proud grin.

" It was my pleasure Hartley." He said with a bright chuckle.

Hartley turned to face Len and Barry, but before either of them could say anything there was a flash of yellow engulfing Hartley as Harrison all but tackled the young man and started berating him for being so reckless, not caring at all that he was doing it in front of all of Nevar's nobility.

Len and Barry looked at each other and then back at Harrison and Hartley. Knowing grins spread across both of their faces. It seemed that their hearts were not the only ones that Hartley Rathaway had made a place for himself in.

Things devolved into a chaos after that, Mark and his men converging on Lord Jesse and dragging him away, but not before Len stripped him of his title and assets in front of everyone, going so far as to rip the chain of state off of the disgraced traitor. The former Lord basically went off the deep end after the declaration, raving and spitting like a madman even with the broken jaw he received from his former whipping boy.

Once Jesse was taken, Len and Barry had rushed Hartley to go and see his family with Harrison and Mark tagging along, assuring everyone in the hall that the party was still happening, but that this matter was a bit more pressing. It was a joyous reunion and Hartley was buffeted by his now newly freed family. When Hartley was reunited with Axel, Linda, and Tony, the young man had clung to them tightly, the three who had helped him escape in the first place. There were tears of pure joy and relief, but even in their precarious state, the rest of the newly freed servants all bowed in respect when Len and Barry had come forward to greet them. It had been one of the most humbling experience of both Len and Barry's lives.

Len had taken a moment to quickly divest himself of the armor he was wearing under his own outfit, sharing some kisses with Barry before they all rushed back to the Great Hall.

 _(Author's note: Please try listening to "Anne's Coronation" from the soundtrack to the show "The Tudors" season 2 while reading.)_

Now though, an hour behind when it was originally supposed to take place, Len stood proud and regal with Barry, the real Barry standing faithfully by his side as they, and everyone else in the Great Hall watched Cisco Antonio Ramon get down on one knee before Ileana Cassandra Snart and ask her a very important question while he held out his Grandmother's heirloom engagement ring in a little red box.

" Lisa Ileana Cassandra Snart, Princess of Nevar, will you make me the happiest and luckiest man on Earth and be my wife?"

With her eyes glittering with happy tears, Lisa nodded her head and spoke.

" Yes, I will be your wife, Cisco Antonio Ramon."

Cisco beamed as he stood up and took his Grandmother's ring, a breathtaking square-cut diamond in an ornate gold setting with little white diamonds around the circumference. With a slight tremor in his own hands, Cisco took Lisa's left hand which she held out to him and slipped the beautiful ring onto her finger.

With a tearful laugh, Lisa pulled Cisco to her and pressed her lips to his in a deep kiss, one which he fervently returned. The Great Hall erupted into thunderous cheers and applause.

Len didn't even both trying to high the happy tears sliding down his face as he clapped, Barry no better beside him. Iris was crying happily as well, while Eddie held he close, grinning ear to ear. Antonia was all but bouncing with Dante and Joe standing on either side of her, clapping. Harrison and Mark stood smiling with Hartley between them, the young man grinning brightly, and finally, Hannibal stood clapping with a bright smile on his face, now dressed in a fresh, purple Tudor jacket with a simple chain of white stones draped over his shoulders, changing out of the ruined Tudor jacket and armor and padding into something that was more him.

Now it was Cisco and Lisa who were buffeted by their family, Len and Barry being the first to hug the newly engaged pair. A little while after that, the tables were rolled in and the food was brought out. The full orchestra that had been hired began to play beautiful and celebratory music. Lisa and Cisco sat at center of it all with Len and Barry flanking them. Speeches were made, sumptuous food and wine were enjoyed, and the Great Hall fell into warm, merriment.

When it came time to dance, Lisa and Cisco shared their first waltz as an engaged couple, before everyone else joined in. Len and Barry held each other close, reveling in the fact that they had survived the night's earlier ordeal. Iris and Eddie were dancing too, the Princess of Central Kingdom grinning even more brightly, for she had a very special surprise for her husband. A few weeks earlier she had been feeling a bit odd and had gone to her mother-in-law, the head healer of Central Kingdom, where she had received the most wonderful news. Iris was pregnant with her and Eddie's first child. She'd tell him once they were alone in their room, right now though she just smiled and kissed Eddie soundly. This part was for Lisa and Cisco after all, she would not steal the spotlight.

Mark found himself dancing Shawna Baez, enjoying the young woman's gorgeous smile and fiery personality and feeling the mutual attraction between them despite only just meeting each other properly on this night. Harrison and Hartley were dancing together as well, Hartley being the quick learner that he was already keeping up and gliding smoothly with Harrison holding him close. And if Len and Barry glanced their way in time to see them shared a sweet kiss, the royal couple just smiled, pleased beyond measure that Hartley had found happiness with Harrison amidst all the horrible things he had be forced to endure in his short life.

As they shared a deep kiss of their own, Len and Barry sent their thanks to whoever ran the universe for allowing things to work out such that they, and everyone they loved to come out unscathed after all of the nights dramatics.

It was around four o'clock in the morning that the festivities finally ended and Len and Barry had bid farewell to the last of their guests. The royal couple shuffled upstairs to their apartments, the both of them dead on their feet and already feeling the after effects of all the alcohol they had consumed. Once they had reached their apartments, Len and Barry made a B-line straight for the doors of their bedroom.

Inside their bedroom, both men made there way over to their bed and sat down side by side at the foot of it. They tiredly pealed off the boots from their aching feet, Barry taking it upon himself to take off the crowns on both his and Len's heads along with the heavy chains still draped over their shoulders. He got up with a groan and made his way over to the round table where he promptly set all the heavy jewelry down. Padding gingerly on his aching soles, Barry lowered himself back now onto the bed, pressing up against Len's side. Len wrapped his arm around Barry in turn.

The royal couple sat together, and for the longest time they just stared ahead at nothing in total silence. Then Barry let out this deep breath and spoke.

" Holy crap." He said simply, still staring straight ahead

" Yeah." Len agreed with a nod.

Then Len turned his head to look at Barry, and Barry turned to met Len's gaze. Hazel green eyes stared into those of steely blue. A few moments later Len's deep chuckle was mingling with Barry's bright chortle. In the face of all the crazy things they had survived just hours before, the slightly hysterical laughter was most appropriate for the King of Nevar and his beloved Prince. They were still chuckling even as they shared a deep kiss.

Outside, the dark skies over Nevar were brightening as the sun was slowing beginning to rise, bringing with it the promise of a bright new morning over the Winter Kingdom.

The End

* * *

To all of the readers of this story, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your patience and giving this first time ColdFlash writer a chance. You all are the best!


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